A Different Path
by Garnet-Moon
Summary: A tragedy destroys her world at a young age and Tsuna's introduction to the maifa is very different. Eventually she will return to her hometown of Namimori but what will she find there and can she become the Vongola Decimo? Mafia princess femTsuna
1. Prologue: A tragic start

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Prologue

It had started out a normal day. It should have ended like a normal day. The day that would change the life of Tsunayoshi Sawada forever. She was 5 years old and lived with her mummy, Nana, in the town of Namimori. The young girl hadn't stepped foot outside of the town she was born in and was content with her safe albeit boring life. Then again at 5 it wasn't hard to find wonders in her garden; the thrill hadn't worn off yet. She rarely saw her daddy but he always sent her presents on her birthday and at Christmas and always told her he loved her and mummy more than anything.

It was mid-afternoon and she was colouring in a drawing of her family. The small child with long brown hair and warm innocent eyes had no idea of the tragedy that would happen that day. Her mummy was cleaning in the kitchen so the only company she had was the stuffed raggedy bear that she took everywhere with her. Chubby fingers were clumsily gripping a yellow crayon and Tsuna had a huge smile on her face. Her daddy was coming home today and she wanted to give him the picture.

"Tsu-chan what are you doing?" She looked up to see her mummy leaning out from behind the kitchen door.

"I'm drawing a picture for daddy." she said and held up the paper. Nana came out to get a better look, she smiled at her daughter and rubbed her hair affectionately.

"He'll love it I'm sure. You're going to be quite the artist when you grow up." Tsuna blushed and smiled at the praise. She carefully smoothed out the drawing on the table and looked back at her mummy.

"Can we play a game mummy?" Nana looked back at the kitchen with a slight frown on her face.

"I don't know Tsu-chan. I want to make dinner perfect for your father." Then she made the mistake of looking at her daughter, who at 5 had mastered the art of the puppy-dog eyes. Knowing it was a lost cause she sighed and nodded her head.

"OK, we'll play a quick game of hide and seek but only for a couple of minutes OK." Tsuna nodded and Nana closed her eyes and began to count down from 30. The little girl ran away from her mummy and started to look for a place to hide. Their television sat on top of a small wooden cabinet and it was just big enough for a young girl and a stuffed animal to hide in. It was perfect, her mummy would never find her in there. After a few tries she was able to wriggle herself inside and shut the doors. She heard her mummy reach 0 and she hunched even smaller into a ball. For a few there was silence then there was the noise of footsteps walking around the room.

The doorbell ring nearly caused her to fall out in shock. She wondered if she should get out and see who was there but something inside her told her to stay still and she got a nasty feeling in her stomach. Her hands clutched in her bears fur and she wanted to warn her mummy. Something wasn't right.

"Hello. I'm Nana Sawada. Who are you gentlemen?" Nana had opened the door and Tsuna could almost see the smile on her face.

"Well madam. We are associates of your husband and we would like to speak with you about him." The voice was oily and sent a twinge of fear down Tsuna's spine. She was scared.

"Of course, please come in." Tsuna was the only one who would sense the nervousness in her mummy's tone and it made her feel even more frightened. Who were these scary men? There was a small crack in the door and she craned her head to get a view of the living room. She could see the back of one of the men; he was wearing a black suit and was quite tall.

"What do you need to tell me about Iemitsu?"

"All in good time Madam. Is your daughter here?" Tsuna froze when they mentioned her and she prayed the her mummy wouldn't tell them where she was.

"I'm afraid my daughter is at school. She started a few months ago." Tsuna let out a sigh of relief maybe mummy did know the men were not right.

"Ah, I understand. Now Mrs Sawada recently your husband has..." Tsuna couldn't make out the rest of the words either because they had lowered their voices or because her heartbeat was so loud it was all she could hear. There was a shout and she focused on the scene; the palm clutching her teddy bear was sweaty. The man had taken something out of his jacket and Tsuna's world narrowed on that item. It was black and pointed at her mummy. It was the first time she'd ever seen a gun. Her mother screamed and Tsuna wanted to shut her eyes. She would give anything to just close her eyes, but she couldn't. The thing in the mans hand made a loud banging noise and she heard the thump of something or someone hitting the floor.

Tsuna would never see her mother alive again but at 5 she didn't know that. All she knew was the sudden pain in her chest and the knowledge that something had gone horrible wrong. Her body stiffened up and she was almost deaf to the outside world; paralysed by a crippling fear that she didn't know the cause of.

A few words caught her attention but she was too shocked to fully understand. "Find...brat...school...search...hurry..." She was finally able to close her eyes and when the shutting of the door signalled their exit her body started to shake with relief, or terror it was hard to tell the feelings apart.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there shaking in the dark trying to understand what had happened, what had shattered her world and why. The door slammed open and she winced at the noise.

"Nana! Tsuna!" She knew that voice. There was a flurry of footsteps before everything fell silence. There was a thump and she uncurled her form a bit.

"I-I'm sorry boss. We were too late." It was a girl's voice but Tsuna didn't recognize it. All she knew was that her father was out there.

"Nana. I'm sorry. So god-damned sorry." It was her fathers voice but it was so sad and hollow that she wondered if it was really him.

"Find my daughter. She has to be here. There's a chance she might be alive."

"Yes sir." There was more footsteps and then all she could hear was her daddy's breathing.

"Please be alive Tsuna. I can't lose you too." He whispered and Tsuna felt a little of her fear go. With an unsteady hand she pushed open the door and her stiff body fell onto the carpet. She pushed herself up and met her fathers wide eyes.

"D-Daddy." Her voice broke and tears started to run down her eyes. Instantly she was swept up in a fierce hug and her face was pressed into her fathers chest. Finally she could release all the terror she had felt and the sobs kept on coming. Her father stroke her hair and began whispering fervently in Italian; it sounded like a prayer. She took comfort from the embrace and let her mind be soothed at last.

Iemitsu knew the second when she fell asleep but his embrace didn't loosen at all. The two conflicting emotions of relief and sorrow warred in his mind. His daughter was still alive but his wife was dead. For years Iemitsu had seen death and fighting, it was a part of the world that he lived in, but this brutality shocked him to his core. He'd known he'd messed up on his last mission and they'd been able to discover that he had a family. In the Mafia it was a huge weakness. The second he'd realised his mistake he'd basically ran back to Namimori but he had been too late.

His family had paid the price for his mistake and that guilt would stay with him for most of his life. Now the Mafia world would learn of his daughter; with the Primo's blood in her veins she was a possible successor to the Vongola. He'd planned for her to become the next boss but only when she was much older. She shouldn't have had to see the ugly dark truth of his world so early.

The question that went round and round in his head was what did he do with his daughter? Should he find her a new home and retreat form her life forever? Should he leave her with her grandparents whilst he went back to his job and wiped out any information about her? His eyes fell to her small sleeping body; hands still clutching his jacket and tears still running down her cheeks. No. He couldn't leave her. Not after what had happened. Leaving her would do more harm then good and now that people knew of her she would need more protection then ever.

He looked at his wife's body and felt a vice squeeze his heart. She would want him to stay with Tsuna not hand her over to some strange relatives. He'd let his wife down but he wouldn't let Tsuna down as well. His daughter would stay with him.

"She's alive then." His head spun around to see Lal Mirch watching him, her eyes glanced down at Tsuna and he could see the question forming on her tongue.

"She hid in the cupboard under the TV. Nana must not have told them where she was and they didn't find her."

"What are you going to do with her?"

He looked up and Lal could see the steel in his eyes, the absolute conviction which told her that nothing on earth would change his decision. Though the man could act like a clown at times, it was clear that had he not been head of CEDEF the Ninth might well have chosen him as the next boss. She looked at the young girl in his arms, he had often boasted about his "cute little daughter" and you have to be an idiot not to realize how much he loved his family. This attack was going to leave a pretty big scar. She couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of sick bastards went around killing innocent women and children.

"Tsuna's coming to Italy with us. She's going to live in Vongola headquarters." His tone allowed argument so Lal merely nodded. Still her mind erupted with doubts at the thought of such a young child growing up in the Mafia. More importantly, would the Ninth even allow it? She watched Iemitsu stand up and gently carry his daughter outside and Lal let out a sigh. No matter what the Ninth would say Iemitsu was not going to leave his daughter and when she looked at what happened today she could understand why.

Tsuna Sawada's entrance into the Mafia world had come a lot sooner then planned. It would change everything.

**AN: OK here it is my newest Reborn story. I know it was a really dark and angst filled beginning but don't worry it gets happier next time. The next couple of chapters are going to be about Tsuna growing up in Italy and some of the people she meets and the bonds she forms with them. Still not sure how Xanxus is going to fit in but I'll figure it out. Her return to Namimori will be when she's about 15/16. Pairing wise feel free to suggest any, I'm not really sure at the moment and I hope you enjoyed the beginning, or are at least gong to wait and see what happens next. Thank you for reading.**


	2. Settling in

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 1

_Age 6_

The sound of laughter echoing through the halls was not a normal noise in the Vongola headquarters yet it had been heard more and more frequently as time wore on. The Ninth had allowed Iemitsu to bring his daughter to Italy, though it had taken a while and some shouting before he'd agreed. Tsuna now spent most of her time in one section of the mansion. The quiet girl rarely spoke to anyone except her father and one or two members of CEDEF. The death of her mother had increased the bond between father and daughter greatly and Iemitsu was one of the few people who she would smile and laugh around. The other person she got on with was Lal Mirch. The corrupted arcobaleno got on surprising well with the girl despite her impatience and rather sharp temper.

It had been about 7 months since she'd first arrived here and she was still skittish around the numerous people working here. At the moment she was sitting her room reading a fairytale book her mother had bought her for her 4th birthday. She missed her mother so much and she still suffered vivid nightmares from that day. Her eyes scanned over the words on her book; absorbing the tale of Beauty and the Beast (it had always been one of her favourites). She was taught via home tutor in a small classroom and had next to zero contact with other children. This isolation was understandably worrying her father.

There was a knock on the door and she looked up to see one of her daddy's "friends" standing there. His name was Tumeric. She smiled and closed the book.

"Ch-Ciao Tumeric-san." She greeted. Her knowledge of Italian was growing but she would often revert back to Japanese. The language barrier was just another thing keeping her from fitting in and the glamorous beautiful mansion didn't feel like home.

"Good morning Miss Sawada." He stepped inside and nodded his head. "Would you come with me please?" She blinked and closed her books, wondering what was going on. Usually she was left on her own to do as she pleased with one or two guards; who, she felt too scared to speak to. She jumped off the chair and followed Tumeric out the room. The ominous hallways of the mansion were still scary so she stayed close to the man. Eventually the odd pair came to a wooden door. Tsuna blinked as Tumeric said something in Italian and the door swung open.

She timidly walked in after Tumeric who dropped onto one knee and whispered something she couldn't catch. She blinked and looked up to see an old man sitting on a big chair behind a desk. It was that nice man who came over to visit with her daddy. Only he wore a colourful shirt last time not a suit. He'd looked up at their entrance and as now smiling kindly at her.

"Thank you for bringing Tsuna to me Tumeric. You may leave." He spoke in Japanese for her benefit and she slowly returned the smile. Her bodyguard stood up and left. The old man stood up and slowly walked over to her. Bending down to her level he held out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Tsuna-chan. Do you remember me?" She nodded and then looked away shyly.

"You came over with my daddy one day. He said you were his boss." The smile didn't slip from his face and she relaxed slightly.

"That's right and do you know where you are?" Tsuna looked around the room with big curious eyes and shook her head. "Well why don't we go over to my desk and I'll show you." She nodded and accepted the hand he offered her. When they got to the desk he carefully picked her up and placed her gently on the wood. He opened up the interactive screen on his desk (technology had moved on and of course Vongola got the best). Loading up the screen he brought up a map of Italy.

"We are here in the country of Italy in Europe." She nodded and moved a little closer to the screen. He zoomed in until a picture of the mansion was on the screen. "This is the building you're in right now. It's the headquarters of the Vongola family." She frowned at the new word.

"Vongola?" He nodded indulgently and showed her a picture of the family crest.

"I'll tell you more about that a little later. Now are you enjoying your time here?" She blushed and appeared to find the ceiling very interesting. "It's alright if you don't, this place wasn't built for children." Thinking she'd offended him she began to babble.

"I-It's not that. I-I like the building very much it's really nice but...it doesn't feel like home...Sorry." The Ninth stared at the young girl squirming under his gaze. He felt mildly shocked at her behaviour: the girl had lost her mother in a horrific way, she had actually heard it, and she was apologizing to him because she didn't like the mansion.

"No, you don't need to say sorry. I want you to be comfortable which is why I called you here today." He turned and met her gaze. "Is there anything you want or would like to make you feel better here." Tsuna sat back, a little surprised at the offer. For a while she was silent her mind working through the possibilities before she slowly shook her head.

"No sir, I don't think there's anything you can do." He waited patiently for her to continue. Her eyes misted up and she rubbed the side of her face. "I want to see my m-mummy again, I want to go back to our house a-and I want to see my daddy more b-but he has to w-work all the time and I-I don't want to bother him.." On the final word her voice broke and big tears started to roll down her cheeks. The trauma and the sudden change had finally caught up to her. She cried for her mother, she cried for her father, for herself, for the life she'd once had and the innocence she'd lost. She cried until she couldn't cry any more. When she was drained both emotionally and physically she saw what she'd done: somehow she'd wriggled her way onto the old man's lap and was currently squeezing him with all the power in her arms. What surprised her was the hand stroking her hair and the other one holding her steady. Her head looked up of its own accord and the eyes she saw were so full of guilt and sorrow, so...tired that it made her want to cry all over again.

"I'm sorry Tsuna." The words were the only noise in the room apart from her occasional sniffle. Tsuna remembered her mummy telling her that people said sorry if they felt they'd done something wrong and wanted to be forgiven. Now she couldn't understand why he was sorry (nor would she for a couple of more years) but she could see that he truly did feel guilty over whatever had happened. She didn't want to add to the sadness in his eyes.

"It's OK." She said and in those few moments a bond was formed between adult and child. Tsuna's world opened just a little and the Ninth boss of the Vongola saw the hope for the future in her smile. He hadn't been sure before but now he knew: if the Vongola was ever going to change, and become what the First had wanted it to be, then the tenth boss had to be Tsuna. Her entry into his world had been horrific and far too early yet she was already showing a great strength and more importantly a great heart that would only serve her well in the future. It may not have happened the way he wanted it but she was involved and know he had more time to prepare her to deal with the challenges.

He watched as she played with his interactive screen her eyes lighting up with a childlike joy and smile growing on her face. A miracle. A frown crossed his face as he recalled Iemitsu's concerns over the girls isolation and lack of contact with other children. Unfortunately, he had a strict rule about young children in the Mafia: they weren't allowed at least not in the Vongola. The nearest person to Tsuna's age was a good 7 years older than her and that was his own son. He paused at that. The woman had brought Xanxus to him 3 years ago and since then the boy had remained aloof from everyone, his anger was a big concern and he hadn't seen him smile once. Despite the fact that the boy wasn't his biological son Timoteo cared about him. His eyes flickered over to Tsuna once again. Maybe if he couldn't reach his son this special little girl could. He just wouldn't mention to Iemitsu just who he'd found to be his precious daughter's companion.

_2 weeks later_

Tsuna was in the gardens, it was her favourite place to be in the whole mansion and the sun felt great on her skin. Ever since that cry her heart had felt a little lighter as if all the weight had been cried out. She saw the old man (whom she was now calling grandpa) a lot, he would summon her to his room and then let her play on his desk for a bit whilst he tested her on her Italian. She still couldn't speak it very well but she could understand bits of conversations and was able to do more than just sit quietly in a corner. What she really loved was reading. Whenever she was reading her mind would take her to far off places all over the world and her loneliness didn't seem as bad. Her teacher (whose name she still couldn't remember) often had to snap her out of a daydream in order to get her mind back on task.

She sighed and ran over to where her favourite flower was: daisies. There was a whole flowerbed of the plants and for some reason they always made Tsuna feel warm inside. Even though there were more beautiful and sweet swelling flowers she preferred spending time amongst the simple plant instead. She knelt down next to the flowerbed and brushed her hand over the petals. Yet it seemed her bad luck was still with her as she managed to knock a bee off the flower. A bee that was now very disgruntled and angry over the sudden intrusion.

Tsuna had a couple of seconds before it darted for it and with a small yelp she was running in the opposite direction as fast as her little legs could carry her. She didn't like bees and ran in a sort of blind panic. One foot landed in front of the other with an impressive speed and before she knew it she was at the other end of the garden.

"Please stop chasing me. I'm sorry!" She yelled out in a frantic voice. Unfortunately, this involved turning her head slightly to yell at the angry insect and as a consequence she could no longer see where she was running to. So it came as no surprise when she ran into a passing bystander. The collision with a body was enough to send her falling to the floor with a thump. She sniffed slightly at the pain on her bum from the landing. Her sniff was cut off at the dark shadow that covered her. Tsuna looked up into a pair of red glaring eyes belonging to a scowling teenage boy.

"Who the hell are you?" She flinched at his cross tone and curled up on the floor.

"My name is Tsuna." She had to be polite. Manners where important. "H-How do you do?"

Xanxus looked down at the quivering girl in confusion. He'd never seen her at headquarters before and she clearly had no idea who he was. He took in her small form and instantly dismissed her as weak. What was a child doing here anyway. He grunted and looked away. Ordinarily he would have punched the idiot stupid enough to run in to him but even he wouldn't hurt a small child especially a small girl. He settled for glaring at her.

"These are private gardens trash. What are you doing here?" She gulped but didn't move off the ground.

"I-I was looking at the daisies. But then a b-bee started chasing me." He snorted at that.

"You were running from a bee?" She nodded and he just shook his head.

"What are you doing here if you run from fucking bees?" At this she actually pouted and crossed her arms.

"It was big." She finally got off the ground. "B-Besides last year when I was out picking flowers a big nasty one landed on my lip and stung me. My mouth was all puffy and red." She saw his lips twitch and stomped her foot. "It wasn't funny, it hurt a lot."

Xanxus couldn't help it the sight of a small girl standing up to _him_ of all people over her fear of bees was just too ridiculous and he let out a sharp laugh. One that wasn't cruel or caused by battle but from real amusement. She wasn't scared of him and that was a factor that already made her more interesting then the rest off the trash he worked with.

Tsuna blinked at the boy, unsure of what to do or say. She settled for waiting until he had stopped before asking:

"What's your name?" He stared down at her again but she held her ground; the bee was still out there.

"Xanxus." She nodded and gave him a shy smile. At least he actually talked to her. Suddenly there was an irrate buzzing noise from behind and with an eep she jumped behind the b- Xanxus for protection. Xanxus started slightly as he felt her cling to his waist. Nobody came to him for protection, nobody. A little unsettled he waved the annoying bee away. He heard her let out a small sigh of releif and looked down to see her looking at him with gratitude in her eyes.

"T-Thank you." He didn't say anything, just grunted and looked away, unwilling to admit that the girl had gotten to him or that those trusting brown eyes affected him either.

**AN: Love it, hate it? Please tell me. I've modified the ages a bit and I hope I kept Xanxus in character, I think that at 13 he wouldn't be as hard or as angry as he is when he's older. Do you think that Tsuna is acting her age or is she being too mature? Thank you for the reviews already. Pairing wise I'm still not sure but thanks for all the suggestions. I think her relationship with Xanxus will be sisterly/friendship at the start but that may or will change later on so all those wanting X27 don't worry I'm keeping my potions open. Thanks again and I hoped you enjoyed it!**


	3. Weakness and Strength

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 2

_Age 8_

The noise of gunshots exploded in Tsuna's ears but the thick blindfold covering her eyes prevented her from seeing what was going on. She had been sleeping quite peacefully in her bed before a pair of arms had grabbed her and wrenched her from the safety of her room and tied something around her head. The yells and shouts had paralysed her and the sound of alarms was hardly comforting. She was being held tightly by someone and was struggling to breathe from the pressure on her chest.

Panic had set in but the gag prevented her from screaming and her arms and legs were futile against her kidnapper. Another gunshot caused her to freeze and she inwardly cursed her own weakness. There was more yelling but the world was fuzzy and black to her though she could recognise her father's voice and that of Lal-nee. Hope flared inside but the harsh voice of whoever had her sent chills down her spine. The sense of movement stopped and the grip on her loosened a little, but it was not enough for her to wriggle out. Now that she was stationary she could understand what they were saying.

"Your family has gone too far this time Antonio. Let my daughter go or I swear you will pay." Despite his harsh tone her dad's voice soother her and offered some comfort; he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Still, her heartbeat was beating like a drum inside her chest. There was a bark of laughter from whom she assumed was Antonio.

"Give it a rest Iemitsu, we both know as long as the brat is with me." At this he squeezed her hard. "You won't do anything." She heard the cocking of a gun and her mind went blank with panic as the memory of her mother's death rushed back at her. The cool feel of metal against her head hardly helped.

"What do you want?" She wished fiercely that she could see her father's face but knew that she was once again helpless. The fury at herself burned inside her.

"It's very simple Iemitsu. We both know that there are at least 10 men with their guns aimed at me and the second I let this child go they'll shoot. I'd gladly let her go but...I require a replacement instead." There was a tense silence.

"You want me instead." It wasn't a question and he spoke quite calmly and Tsuna knew that he'd made the decision already. To rescue her he would give himself up. Everything inside her screamed in denial; she couldn't lose him, not her dad, her daddy who loved her so much. Her struggle increased but the steel arms that held her fixed her in place and she remained with him.

"Think about what you're doing Iemitsu!" Lal's voice entered the argument but Tsuna knew that nothing was going to change his mind.

"I know very well what I'm going Lal. Just make sure you get Tsuna out of here." Lal cursed but muttered an affirmative. Tsuna wanted to yell for him to stop but a tiny traitorous part of her wanted to do anything to be safe again.

"So do we have an agreement?" The sly voice of Antonio only added to her helpless anger and she could just imagine him grinning.

"We do." His voice didn't change from that calm reasonable tone that made her want to scream.

"Excellent. Then Iemitsu if you could please walk over to me an I'll let your precious daughter go." Tsuna prayed for a miracle, but at the sound of footsteps walking towards them the hope died and all she was left with was her helpless anger and the knowledge that her father would die because of her; because she was weak.

Closer and closer. The thump of each foot on the floor just increased the burning feeling inside of her. The word No was going round in her head like a merry-go-round. The gun was removed from her neck and it was son going to be pressed against her dad's head. Images from that fateful day appeared in her mind and suddenly something broke inside her. She couldn't let it happen again. She wouldn't.

Drawing up the last vestiges of her strength she wrenched away from the man and with a cry escaped his grasp. There was a brilliant orange flare and for a second she felt power flow through her body. Just as soon as it came the feeling went but it had been enough. The silence exploded into noise an another set of arms grabbed her roughly from the floor. She started to resist again when a voice hissed in her ear.

"It's me Miss Sawada." Relief flooded her body at Tumeric's voice and she let herself fall limp in his hold. The stress and fear finally overcoming her and she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

_Later_

Timoteo felt every second of his age as he watched the young girl toss and turn in her slumber. The old guilt flared up and he chanced a glance at Iemitsu. His external advisor was methodically bandaging his hand, which had been injured in the battle, and keeping an eye on his surroundings; the other on Tsuna. He idly wondered how his son would react to this. It had shocked many when the angry spoilt son of the Ninth had become attached to the shy quiet girl but the two were quite close. It had eased many of his worries about Xanxus; even though the only being he showed any softer feelings for was Tsuna. Vongola's enemies were becoming bolder each day and he was not the young man he had once been.

"She used the dying will flame." Timoteo turned around and gave his head of CEDEF his full attention and motioned for him to continue.

"It was only for a couple of seconds but most of my men saw it. A flame on her forehead that flared brightly. She used it to escape her captor and gave us the time to get the advantage." Timoteo nodded and kept his face impassive whilst his mind whirred. He had wanted to wait a couple of years before he allowed Tsuna to learn how to fight but it seemed as if circumstances required her to start earlier than planned. A bitter smirk crossed his face: a lot of his plans regarding Tsuna had had to start early.

"She needs to be trained." Iemitsu nodded at his bosses words but looked away. This was the life he had chosen for Tsuna and she needed to learn how to survive in it without him at times. (Not that he still wouldn't take every opportunity to spend time with her) The Ninth took out his phone and dialled a number. There was a couple of seconds before a voice answered on the other end.

"Ciaossu."

_The Next day_

"So this is why when you add this to this you get that." Tsuna blinked a her teacher pointed to the blackboard but nodded nonetheless. Maths had never come easy to her and the teacher hardly made it inspiring. She left the classroom and headed to one of her favourite spots in the mansion; the old tower. She quickly climbed to the top and plopped herself down on the viewing platform the view always made her feel peaceful and she needed to bring some order to her head. The events from last night were still fresh in her mind. That brief moment when the world had flashed orange was the first time in her life when she had actually felt strong; the first time when she hadn't been a burden, she'd protected her father from giving himself up. At that thought a strange light feeling bubbled in her chest. Xanxus-nii said that strength was for yourself and no-one else but could she use that strength to protect? The idea of protecting sounded good to her and a resolution began to form in her mind that would shape her into the woman she would become.

She would protect her family.

The creaking of the door shocked her out of her surprisingly deep thoughts and she spun around to see a small person standing there. He reminded her of Lal-nee and the pacifier around his neck was the same, if a different colour. There was a small green creature on his head that stared at her and she moved back a bit at the strangers entrance.

"Hmmm, so your the one he's chosen." The stranger lifted his head up and she found herself staring into a pair of black eyes.

"E-Excuse me?" Shyness was still a big problem for her. The stranger smirked and she felt a twinge of fear? Apprehension?

"My name is Reborn and I'm going to be your new home tutor." She cocked her head and moved a little closer. Her first thought was that he was way too young but a quick memory of Lal hitting her father over the head prevented her from voicing that thought.

"W-What are y-you going to be t-teaching m-me." There was that smirk again.

"How to be strong." Her eyes widened. Was this about that strange power she'd felt yesterday? She remembered her resolution and closed her eyes. When she opened them they didn't waver as she nodded and offered her hand to her newest teacher.

"I'm Tsuna." His face revealed nothing but he took her hand and shook it. It was the beginning on her path to becoming boss of the Vongola and the bond between tutor and student started with a simple handshake.

_Age 12_

Tsuna pouted slightly as she pulled at the dress she'd been forced to wear.

"I still don't understand why I have to be the one to greet this son." So used to wearing trousers and T-shirts the tights and dress felt weird and restricting. Reborn was as usual standing on her shoulder and he just hmmed again.

"This family is an old ally of the Vongola it is only proper that you as the heir greet their future boss." Her hands itched to pull the ribbon out of her hair and let it fall loose down her back but it had taken the hairdresser so long to do that she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Plus Reborn would probably punish her in some new way later.

"They may be an old ally but they haven't done anything recently to aid us, besides there must be other people better at this sort of thing."

"Of course there are others better than you."

"See-"

"It is still your duty as the tenth gen boss." He continued as if she hadn't spoke at all. Knowing that it was pointless to argue she resorted to grumbling in her mind. Her 3 bodyguards shared a knowing smile; her distaste of pomp and ceremony was well known and it was usually only the Ninth, her father or her tutor who could get to attend.

Tsuna felt like some sort of glitzy plastic doll in the dress and her fathers montage on how cute she looked hadn't improved her mood. The ornate door loomed in front of her and she prepared herself for the meeting. The door opened and she stepped inside. Just before she entered Reborn hopped off her shoulder and walked along side her.

The splendour of the room didn't effect her at all and she instead focused on the small group of people in the centre. The two groups eyed each other warily and she could feel the tension in the room increase. Mentally rolling her eyes she stepped forward with a small smile of welcome on her face.

"Hello. My name is Tsuna Sawada and it is a pleasure to welcome you into out house." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Reborn nod his approval and she waited for their response.

A young boy about her age with red hair and eyes stepped forward and bowed.

"It is an honour to meet you Sawada-san. My name is Enma Kozato and I-" Unfortunately before he could finish gravity seemed to conspire against him and he fell forward onto his face in front of her. She felt an instant empathy with the blushing boy recalling times when her lack of balance had been embarrassing. She giggled a little but reached out a hand to pull him up. He hesitatingly took it and she gently pulled him to his feet though her hand didn't let go of his. Her smile became less forced and more real.

"Should we try it again?" The boy gave her a thankful smile and shook her hand.

"I'm Enma Kozato."

"Tsuna, Tsuna Sawada."

**AN: Please remember that there will be other key moments in her childhood that I may reveal later on in the story this is to just give her a sort of general background. Thank you to NeoGene for helping me correct that last chapter and to everyone who reviewed. Tsuna will be going back to Namimori soon but I'm not sure who she should meet first. Thank you so much for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Did I get the suffixes right?**


	4. Dino

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

**Warning: Some explicit language**

_Italics - Japanese_

Chapter 3

_Age 13_

Dino Cavallone was not having a good day, scratch that he hasn't been having a good few months! About two months ago his father had hired him a home tutor to teach him how to become a good boss for the Famiglia. Unfortunately, Dino would rather jump out of a plane without a parachute than become the next boss, this added with the fact that he was quite frankly clumsy and useless meant that he resisted it with everything he had. What the young man hadn't counted on though was the psycho-evil-baby-from-hell that had been sent to teach him. It had been the worst few months of his life: electric shock wake up calls, guns, wilderness training, fighting bears and more were all examples off Reborn's unique (cruel) training method.

To make matters worse a couple of days ago the baby had called over some associates who were nearby on a mission. Spending the last forty-eight hours with the Varia was a matter of survival. He wasn't sure who was scarier: the loud and angry swordsman or the ever glaring boss who was using him as target practice. If he wasn't a man he'd probably cry. This morning he had somehow managed to sneak away from the battleground that had become his home (it never occurred to him that the training was actually taking effect) and was currently walking around the nearby town praying that neither the Varia or Reborn found him.

Maybe he should just give in and accept it besides it wasn't like he was good at anything else. He lifted his foot to kick a stone but his lack of balance reared its ugly head again and he missed the stone causing him to spin around and fall to the floor. Feeling his face flush with embarrassment he hurriedly pushed himself off the ground, thankfully there weren't that many people around.

"E-Excuse me sir." He jumped a little at the voice and spun around with a hand on his whip wondering what new ploy his tutor had planned for him. Only to come face to face with a young teenage girl. Her hands were behind her back and she had a nervous expression on her face. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with the number twenty-seven on it and a pair of jeans. He relaxed; the girl was obviously harmless and surely such a cute girl wouldn't know any of the insane people at his house. He noticed the odd accent she had; as if Italian wasn't her first language. He smiled at her.

"Do you know where the Luna café is?" He did, it was a small place not far from here. She seemed so nervous and shy that he found himself eager to help her and his father had drilled into him how important was to be polite to women.

"Yes I do actually. I can show you where if you'd like." Surely Reborn wouldn't punish him if was helping this girl and he needed any excuse not to return to the mansion. She nodded and offered him a warm smile.

"Thank you..." She trailed off and he stood next to her.

"Dino Cavallone. The café is this way." She nodded again and they fell into an easy pace.

"My name is Tsuna Sawada." She said and he nodded but something about the name struck a chord in his memory and he was sure he'd heard it before. Yet he had never seen the girl before in his life. Seeing the tenseness in her shoulders his natural friendliness rose to the surface.

"So, what are you doing out here, if I may ask. I don't think I've seen you around before." She looked at him with a little shock in her eyes and he recognized the signs of a very shy and probably sheltered person.

"I'm here visiting some friends of mine and my sense of direction is nearly non-existent. I'm usually not supposed to travel on my own but this was an exception." Not allowed to travel on her own? He looked her up and down; to all respects she looked like a normal teenager.

"Overprotective parents?" She released an exasperated sigh as if preparing herself for an old argument. At least she seemed more comfortable now.

"You could say that. My father doesn't like me leaving the house that much." He frowned at that and she saw. "He doesn't lock me up or anything like that he can just be a bit over dramatic at times and my grandpa agrees with him." She sighed again and they turned a corner.

"Who are you visiting? Anyone I might know?" A strange smile crossed her face but before she could answer they came to the café. She looked at the sign then at the piece of the paper she got out of her pocket. This was the place! She smiled brightly at him and he couldn't believe this was the shy girl from before.

"Thank you so much Dino-san. I would have been wandering around for ages." So she was Japanese then. With a heavy heart he realised he'd have to return to the wrath of Reborn after she'd gone and he suddenly felt like crying again.

"Hmm you're earlier than I thought." Every muscle inside of Dino froze at that voice which had haunted his sleep for the past few months. Out of instinct he jumped behind the girl for protection and sent up a prayer that the hitman wasn't too angry with him. What he did not expect however was for Tsuna to run over to the baby and sweep him up in a hug. Nor did he expect Reborn to allow himself to be hugged either. Just who was this girl?

"VOOIIIIII! There you are!" His chances of survival had just decreased again as the second-in-command of the Varia stormed out of the café. Instead of looking at Dino he walked over to the girl and infant.

"What the hell were you thinking sneaking away from headquarters?" Tsuna didn't flinch she met Squalo's eyes and put on a slight pout.

"B-but Squalo-kun I really wanted to see you guys and my father was just creating more reasons for me to stay. If I hadn't have left then I don't think he'd have let me go." Squalo grunted and turned his head away. She smiled and looked down at the Baby sitting in her arms.

"Besides I wanted to meet my fellow pupil." At that Dino started which meant that both Squalo and Reborn turned their attention to him.

"VOOIIIIII! There you are you piece of trash!"

"So you didn't run away after all. I'm impressed Loser-student." Tsuna shook her head and looked at Dino with an apologetic face.

"You get used to it after a while. Anyway I'm Reborn's other student: Tsuna Sawada of the Vongola."

"Vongola?" The name again struck a cord but he couldn't remember why which caused Squalo to strike at his head. It was only a split second duck that saved his neck.

"How dare you not know about the Vongola scum! Stand still so I can cut off that empty head of yours!" Just as the blade was about to meet skin something dashed in front of Dino and the lethal weapon stopped. He opened his eyes to see Tsuna standing in front of him with a defiant expression on her face.

"_Don't kill him Squalo-kun. I like him besides the Cavallone are our allies._" Dino swore he must have been in a different universe when the swordsman rather grumpily put the sword down and contented himself with glaring at him. Tsuna looked right and left clearly searching for someone.

"_Where is Xanxus-nii?" _

"_That stupid boss of mine is at this (_here he jabbed at Dino) _piece of trash's house. You've had him very worried brat."_ Dino just watched the two speak without understanding a word of it. He'd heard the name Xanxus and was trying to figure out how she knew such dangerous people. Yet what surprised him the most was the way Squalo and Reborn where acting around the girl. He'd never seen Squalo so calm or Reborn so un-evil.

"_AHHH! Is that my precious Tsu-chan that I hear?" _There was a whirl of colour and then Tsuna was swept into a giant hug and being spun around by the sun guardian of the Vaira. She looked a little crushed but there was a large smile on her face.

"_It's nice to see you too Lussuria-kun."_

"_Wah! How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lussuria nee-san?" _She had finally stopped spinning and gave the flamboyant man a hug in return, though less powerful. She saw Dino's stunned face and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"I'm sorry for speaking in Japanese it's just what I'm most comfortable speaking." He nodded and offered her a warm smile in return.

"_I don't see why you're apologizing to that piece of trash. He's useless." _said Squalo loudly (of course) and purposefully in Japanese.

"I'm being polite Squalo-kun."

_Back at the Cavallone mansion_

"Where the hell have you been you shitty swordsman?" The head of the Varia snarled when the small group returned. Squalo was about to yell back an answer that would no doubt only anger his boss more when Tsuna stepped out form behind. Red eyes widened as the girl ran at him and hugged him round the middle with a pleased cry of "Xanxus!"

"What have I told you about this brat?" He made no move to remove the clingy girl and ignored the gawking Cavallone trash. She smiled up at him completely unrepentant for her actions.

"But I missed you." He grumbled but still allowed the girl to hug him whilst he glared at the amused arcobaleno. Once she'd let him go he moved his scowl to her.

"What the fuck were you thinking of running away from headquarters?" She blushed and Reborn finally spoke up.

"I asked her to come but Iemitsu was reluctant to let her go. Congratulations on escaping but you weren't able to find the café by yourself." She looked away and crossed her arms.

"You know my direction sense is terrible."

"A future boss should not have such a weakness." She gave a frustrated huff but allowed him to stay in her arms.

The only thing that Dino could think was "Who was this girl?" His tutor turned to him and he wanted to hunch into a small ball.

"She is Tsuna Sawada destined to become the Tenth boss of the Vongola famiglia: the strongest Mafia family in the world." He looked at the teenager and found it hard to believe that she would be the next boss yet no-one opposed Reborn's statement and she nodded at the title. Wait a minute...

"You can read my mind!"

"Yes." Tsuna gave him a sympathetic glance.

"Unfortunately, you never get used to that."

**AN: So I had a second burst of inspiration and wrote this. I'm hoping to have Tsuna return in the next chapter when she's about 15/16 so she'll be a little older than at the start of the manga but should follow the same lines with some key differences. The whole issue about Xanxus finding out he was adopted will be covered later on in the story as well as her accepting the position of the Ninth's successor. Tsuna will be very shy and a bit closed off when she moves to Namimori and it may take a while before she feels comfortable but I hope you like her character. Thank you for the reviews.**


	5. Namimori

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

_Italics - Italian_

Chapter 4

_Age 16_

The train cut through the countryside like a knife and the scenery passed by the window in a blur but she was too nervous to pay attention to it anyway. Tsuna Sawada had finally returned to Japan. One hand was clenched around the hand luggage she had taken with her while her suitcases rested on the shelf above her head. It was quite a small train with only a few other passengers so she had a lot of room. On the seat next to her was a pet carrier case which her other hand rested on top of. She waited in silence for her stop to come up: Namimori train station. Her throat was really dry and the bubbly feeling in her stomach refused to go away. She was returning alone. The Ninth had made it clear that this was something she had to do herself and although she had accepted it she couldn't stop the slight feeling of panic that had formed inside of her.

Her family and friends were everything to her but this was a task she had to do alone. Her eyes glanced over to the backpack clutched in her hand where a small rectangular box lay. The contents of that box were soaked in blood and violence; men had fought over them for years and they now rested in her care: the Vongola Rings. Her own ring was on a chain around her neck hidden by her clothes but she hadn't chosen her guardians yet. When she'd first learned about the guardians she'd naturally assumed that she would be able to choose from her family but it had not been the case. She had to find them herself. She had to choose the 6 people who she would be trusting with her life and the future of the Vongola from a town of strangers. Easy right.

Of course it didn't help that her social skills sucked either. The friendships and bonds she had formed had all happened under unusual circumstances, her interaction with "normal" people had been minimal. To make matters worse she also had to attend the local school, even though she'd probably learned the stuff years ago in order to "mingle" with others. Now this may seem perfectly reasonable to some but to Tsuna it was as if her own personal nightmare had just been made true. High school. She'd read about it and it didn't appeal to her in the slightest but the Ninth had been adamant.

Enemies of the Vongola were rising and he wanted her to have a strong family before they attacked. Reborn had agreed with him and the rings had come into her possession. Her tutor would come down in a couple of weeks and she'd been asked to keep it quiet from the Varia and some of her more overprotective friends. Surprisingly her father hadn't voiced a single protest to the idea and after wringing a promises from her that she'd call him at least every two days, he'd given her a hug and some last minute advice waved her goodbye at the airport.

She leant back on the chair and let out a sigh. The ring around her neck felt a lot heavier than usual and homesickness was starting to set in. She'd had better trips. Due to the secrecy of her task she'd only be allowed to give a couple of goodbyes so most of her family thought she was still in Italy. A smile crossed her face as she imagined some of their reactions to finding out where she was. Still her friends were so important to her and she was already missing them. Yet there was a slight thrill of adventure that cut through her melancholy and she'd be acting completely independently for once instead of having a number of guards with her. Yes the prospect of moving to a strange town by herself was slightly intimidating but it was balanced by a curiosity as to what the world outside the Mafia was like and a hope that she would be able to find suitable guardians.

A frown crossed her face. The guardians she chose would become deeply involved with the Mafia and Namimori was full of ordinary people. Was it OK to ask them to protect her? To bring normal people into her world where danger was everywhere? She pushed it out of her mind for the moment and closed her eyes hoping to catch up on some sleep before she arrived.

_Namimori_

She jumped off the train onto the platform and looked around, it was a small building so she found the exit easily. Dragging along two wheeled suitcases, a pet carrier and a backpack may have tired most people but she was fine and her brown eyes darted everywhere, automatically checking for any sign of danger. There were some taxi's nearby and she clambered into the nearest one after having a bit of a struggle fitting her luggage in. She gave the driver the address that the Ninth had given her and sat back to watch the scenery pass by.

"Are you just visiting Namimori miss?" She blinked at the question but hurriedly put on a smile. Reborn ad drilled it into her how important manners were and although to some she seemed a bit cold and aloof they could never say she wasn't polite.

"No, I'm moving here well I'll be staying for the next couple of months at least." She saw him frown in the mirror.

"You're going to be by yourself." She nodded.

"Yes, but don't worry I can take care of myself and my family are supporting me." His expression cleared slightly at that and she returned to looking for the town. She still wasn't exactly sure why the Ninth had asked her to return to this place. Maybe she had to face her past. Her spine stiffened and for a second her eyes clouded with memories before almost instantly snapping out of it. She kept those memories to remind her why she had to change the Vongola when she became boss otherwise the fighting would never stop.

Her memories of this place were fuzzy and she couldn't remember much of the layout of the town or any of its people only a vague sense that she hadn't been liked by the other children much. Once again she prayed that she wouldn't screw this "social interaction" thing up. She smiled at the situation: put her in a room of assassins who wanted to kill her? No problem. Making friends and going to school? No way. They were soon driving through the town and she was soon looking out of both windows, not because she was checking for danger but because she had the curiosity of about 10 cats. Her eyes took in everything from the closed down warehouse and park to the sushi shop and swimming pool. She'd have to have a look around though she'd probably need to take a map, a GPS and a compass with her to.

"Here we are miss." She whipped her head round to the see the house they'd stopped in front of. The Ninth had paid oft it but it was her job to maintain it and look after it. She smiled and stepped out of the car whilst the driver got her luggage from the back. She paid him and thanked him for the journey. Once he'd driven off she began to drag her luggage to the door. The key fit perfectly and she stepped inside what was to be her new home for the next few months. It was fairly spacious and had about four bedrooms. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, a living-room and a small study. There was a bookcase in the study and she laughed with delight when she saw it contained some of her favourite novels. She'd have to thank the Ninth and her father later.

A growl from the pet carrier meant its occupant had finally woken up. Tsuna opened the front and reached inside to pull out an orange tabby cat that was stretching its limbs out.

"So you're awake at last." She set it down on the floor and watched as it lazily looked up at her. "Honestly, you must be part koala from the amount you sleep each day Lyon." Lyon just stretched and yawned again before proceeding to rub against her trouser leg. As always any annoyance she felt at the feline melted away and she crouched down to stroke it, mumbling about "manipulative animal", "exploiting" and "weakness". She left his carrier on the floor and began to move the final two suitcases to the bedroom she'd decided would be hers. Lyon followed her and instantly pounced on the bed as soon as she opened the door. She shook her head but didn't say anything as she began to unpack.

Lyon had been a small kitten when she'd first seen him two years ago. Her father had got him for her birthday and they'd been inseparable ever since though she sometimes wondered if her dad had trained him at all, especially when he hissed at any male within a metre of her which eerily reminded her of her fathers reaction when boys got to close. Enma-kun had gotten such a fright when an orange ball of fur had leapt at his face when he'd tapped her on the arm. Lyon was the only familiar thing in this place and gave some comfort to her shaky nerves. She stroked his fur and gave him a quick snuggle.

"Things are going to be very different now aren't they boy?" A meow was her reply and she chuckled. There was something she had to do before she called home. She grabbed her backpack and began rooting around inside before her hands closed over the box. It seemed so small and unimportant yet had caused so many battles and so much pain. There was a high-tech safe in the study and the rings would be kept there until she'd decided on her guardians. After inputting a code and locking it securely she found her mobile and sat on the chair behind the desk.

"_Hello Tsuna-chan." _She smiled at the familiar voice and some of the tension left her shoulders.

"_Hello grandpa. I'm just calling to tell you I've arrived at the house. It's great by the way and thank you for the books."_ The Ninth laughed at the other end.

"_You're very welcome Tsuna. I'm glad the house is to your liking. Have you had a chance top look around the town yet?"_

"_No I just got here. I've put the rings in the safe."_ It was a secure line but her voice still dropped in volume. Caution was essential in their world and they both knew it.

"_Good. Now I don't want to alarm you but please be aware that there are a growing number of families appearing in Namimori. They will know who you are."_ She had known that, the outrage and scandal of having a female Vongola Decimo still hadn't died down completely.

"_How is Reborn?"_ She knew that he would be joining her in a few weeks but she still worried about him. She worried about everybody which according to him was both her biggest weakness and her greatest strength.

"_On a mission."_ She accepted the short answer, there were some things she still wasn't privy to in the Vongola.

"_And my father?"_

"_He'll be back tomorrow and you should be able to contact him then. Now by my calculation it should be around evening in Japan so I suggest you get some sleep." _

"_Yes, yes." _She had a smile on her face as she hung up the phone. She'd eaten something on the train and felt tired from travelling such a distance. She decided to go for a quick shower instead of a bath and put on her pyjamas. As she was heading for bed she caught sight of her reflection in the full length mirror on the wardrobe door.

The figure staring back at her was medium sized with a curvy figure just entering the last stages of puberty. Wet brown hair fell to her chest and clung to a lightly tanned face that held a pair of brown eyes that were slightly too big for her to be called beautiful. Again she found herself looking for that _thing_ that everyone else around her seemed to see, the _thing_ that convinced them to protect her and look after her, the _thing_ that made her worthy of becoming the tenth boss but as usual she couldn't see it. She flopped down on the bed and pulled the covers over her body wondering what tomorrow would bring. She had one day before school started and she wanted to make the most of it. Lyon curled himself next to her and soon her eyes had closed as she drifted off to sleep.

**AN: OK she's finally back! Yes it was a boring chapter but it needed to be told. Like I've mentioned before she is older than in the manga but it is intentional. Please tell me if you think she's Mary-suish which is my biggest fear and tell me if I'm using the suffixes right please. I'm surprised at how popular it is but very grateful too. Next time she will meet someone promise.**

**Reviews:**

**Milostudio + doremishine itsuko: Don't worry Enma will play a role in this but he'll be appearing later on, though he may feature in some of her memories.**

**SheenaFox: Thank you so much for your help with the last chapter. I always miss the little mistakes which is bad.**

**Orangesky3: That is going to appear in a flashback sort of thing but I haven't figured it all out yet.**

**Sachiel Angelo: That's a mistake I'll try and correct thanks for pointing it out.**


	6. Shopping & Exploring

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

_Italics - Italian_

Chapter 5

For the first time in years Tsuna didn't wake up to an electric shock, gunfire, trapdoor or spikes. No she woke up to someone yelling outside her window in a voice that could probably be heard from Mars.

"EXTREME!" Her eyes opened in a flash and she shot up wondering what new and cruel way Reborn had decided to wake her up. The strange room she was in disoriented her and he eardrums were ringing from the yell and subsequently her feet got tangled in the covers, resulting in her falling to the floor in a disgruntled, tried heap. Her mood wasn't helped by a slightly overweight cat jumping on her lap.

"_Who the hell is that?"_ Now normally she didn't resort to such language but these were special circumstances. She stomped over to the window with Lyon in her hands and looked down at the street below. Whoever it was had disappeared, but what caused her to pause was the line of dying will flames that had appeared on the road. Whoever it was had a great amount of dying will energy and her mind began to whir slightly. It was still too early to make a decision but she'd have to keep an eye out for her wake up caller.

"_Just when I thought I'd finally have a morning in."_ She grumbled as she looked at the clock. 6:00 am. Still she'd been woken earlier before all that was really hurt was her face and pride. She grinned a little; no matter how good a tutor Reborn was even he hadn't been able to erase her clumsiness completely. When she fought it wasn't a problem, but out of battle she had moments when her lack of balance rivalled Dino's. She swallowed the lump in her throat that tasted suspiciously of homesickness. Dino was one of her family who she hadn't been able to say goodbye to.

Pushing it back she turned to her suitcase which lay unopened on the floor and pulled out some clothes. She would have to buy the Namimori uniform and some more clothes today but first she needed to get some food for herself and her ravenous pet. Rather appallingly Tsuna had never gone shopping before in her life but she knew the basic principles, how hard could it be? She changed into a pair of trousers and top before heading down for some breakfast.

The fridge had been stocked with only one days food and for a moment she wondered if this whole thing was just another of Reborn's lessons; teaching her how to live "like a normal person". She fed Lyon and munched down her breakfast. The sun had just peaked out from behind the clouds and she set out with a bag and a purse on her first ever shopping trip. Thankfully, the supermarket wasn't too far from her house so there was no chance of her getting lost...she hoped.

* * *

She hated shopping. Especially for clothes. Buying food had been alright and the cashier had been very polite, it was simple and quick. But then, then she had to buy her uniform and at the end she'd wanted to punch the annoying sales clerk who kept on looking at her and making tutting noises whenever she went near a clothes rack. She checked her watch 10am, she wanted to get a good idea of the layout of the town or at least her neighbourhood and find out where the school was so it was probably best to drop the bags off at the house and then explore.

She dropped the bags unceremoniously in the living room, gave a quick hug to Lyon and darted out the door again. The place still felt strange and new to her, she wasn't comfortable inside it, and she was eager to leave. There were only a few adults about this early in the morning and no sign of the person with the loud voice.

The first thing she wanted to find was the school and barring a few wrong turns she found it with relative ease. The school was a medium sized building but she was surprised at how well kept it looked. From the gates it looked really clean which she hadn't expected since teenagers came here five days of the week. Someone must care about this school.

"I-I told you I was sorry." The voice pierced her contemplations and she turned her head to see a group of teenagers at the bottom of the street. From the looks of it the speaker was the rather pale looking boy on the floor trembling. Frowning she moved closed; the situation didn't look good especially since the other guys were dressed in black and had the same weird hairstyle. Somehow she doubted that this was normal.

"It doesn't matter, you displeased Hibari-sama and for that you must be dealt with." One of the goons lifted up a fist and the boy curled on the floor, one hand raised in protest.

"N-No please." That was it.

"Call me crazy but where I'm from we don't beat up helpless people in the street." Well, she didn't. Tsuna stepped forward in what Reborn called her "boss mode". Which meant that she looked serious, in control and people listened to her. The group seemed surprised at her entrance but it quickly turned to contempt.

"Move along girly this doesn't concern you." OK award for the lamest comeback ever.

"Maybe not, but I have a slight problem with people beating other people up for no reason at all other then that they displeased someone." One of them sneered at her.

"You must be new if you haven't heard of Hibari-sama." She shook her head but suddenly became aware of another pair of eyes on her and her spine stiffened; she felt anticipation as if a fight was going to break out at any moment. One of them snorted and then gave her with a creepy look which just increased her ire.

"Walk away, this doesn't concern you but if you carry on interfering there will be consequences." Goon number one said then turned his attention back to the cowering boy (who for some reason hadn't run away yet). When he moved to punch the boy Tsuna moved. The guys eyes widened in shock to almost cartoon size as she caught his punch easily in her hand. With a flick she sent him flying backwards into a wall. The loud crash was very satisfying.

"Why you-." Goon number two clearly didn't have a brain as he tried to punch her. She sidestepped it and watched as he stumbled and fell on the pavement. If this was any indication of the talent here she was in for a hard search. The other pair of eyes hadn't moved from her and she felt edgy. The boy looked up at her with a sort of terrified awe and she attempted to give him a comforting smile.

"Are you OK?" she reached out a hand but he scrambled up and brushed off the dirt on his clothes.

"Y-Yes. T-Thank you." She frowned at the two unconscious thugs.

"Just who is this Hibari-sama anyway." She might have well have told him she was the devil incarnate. Any colour that was left in his cheeks drained out and he started looking left and right like a rabbit.

"I-I'm sorry. I have to go." And then he ran away. Fast. Now it was just her and the silent watched. She looked up and there he was; sitting on the school roof. Tsuna instantly recognized him as a fighter, a warrior with the same look in his eye that she'd seen in Xanxus and at times Dino. His skill was way above the two idiots she'd dispatched. He didn't make a move towards her but his grey eyes flashed with the promise of battle. This had to be Hibari and she could see why he inspired fear. Without saying a word she turned to leave keeping her smirk back until the school was out of sight. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she'd thought it would be.

* * *

So she hadn't made any new friend but she at least wouldn't get lost on her way to school and someone had sparked her interest which was more than she'd expected. It was probably time to call her dad right now but there was something she needed to do first. She went to her suitcase and brought out some incense sticks and a framed photograph. It was a photo of her mother. Nana was smiling with love at her daft husband who was holding the camera and the photo had been taken at the moment when her eyes had sparkled with happiness and love. It was the best image to remember her mother by.

She set the photo on her bedside table and set up the incense burner. Using a small flame on the end of her finger she lit it and bowed her head for a few moments allowing childhood memories to wash over her. There was stillness for a moment before she returned to the suitcase to take out the rest of her photos. Each one held a precious memory for her. One of them was of her and the Ninth; it looked like a grandfather and granddaughter enjoying a day out but it had been the day he'd told her about the Mafia and the Vongola. Another showed her and CEDEF grouped together with her father hugging her close to him, she smiled remembering the amount of fuss he'd done to get her into a dress. She'd hated it but he was a very convincing man.

The third was taken a couple of years ago and it was of her and the Varia. It had been one of those rare moments when the six key members had behaved well enough for a photo to be taken. Of course almost a second after Bel had insulted Squalo and then Levi had joined in until Xanxus got angry and started shooting them, whilst Lussuria, Mammon and her had stood at the side watching it. In the picture she was sat next to Xanxus with a big smile on her face and the others were crowded round them. She hadn't seen them since then, she talked to them on the phone but they'd been so busy and her training had taken up so much of her time that she hadn't been able to visit them,

The other photos were of her with various members of her family: Dino, Enma, Reborn etc. She missed them a lot. Lyon curled up to her and she stroked his fur. Would she be able to find suitable guardians here?

_Italy_

Gokudera scowled at the picture in front of him, it shower a smiling teenager with the Ninth boss of the Vongola. So this was the tenth heir? A pathetic girl. He'd overheard the famous hitman Reborn talking to his sister and the assassin had let loose that the girl was going to Namimori; a small Japanese town. There was no way such a weak looking girl could possibly make a good boss, he wouldn't let it pass. Time for a trip to Japan.

As the silver haired teen left the building with an angry scowl he failed to notice the small figure watching him from the roof with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He wondered how his student would react to this.

**AN: Shorter chapter than usual but next one is her first day and it should be longer. So Hibari and to a lesser extent Gokudera and Ryohei have appeared; what do you think? Thank you for the support and I hope it matched your expectations. BTW I'm very busy the next few weeks so updates won't be as frequent sorry.**

**Reviews:**

**clippit: I will be mentioning her family's reactions to her leaving later on don't worry.**

**Doremishine itsuko: I don't want her to be dame-tsuna but she's not going to be instantly popular either, she's going to try and fit in with the others only she has no idea how to, which should be fun :)**

**Seriyuu: This chapter should answer your first question. Second one? I am hoping to do a pairing but I've not got any set ideas and am open to anything except yuri which I can't write well but the pairing won't be the main focus of the story.**

**FaerieDemon: First day of school is next, promise.**

**Sachiel Angelo: I would never get rid of Ryohei (he's one of my favourites) and I'm not sure yet how Mukuro will feature in this but he'll definitely be in don't worry.**

**To everyone else? THANK YOU**


	7. First Day: Part one

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 6

Tsuna crouched down below the window, silently counting the minutes in her head she watched the digital clock with a sharp gaze. It would only be a couple of seconds before-

"EXTREME!" She jumped up with a victorious expression only to pale in horror as she realised that she'd shut the curtains. Frantically pulling them open she pressed against the cool glass looking for the yeller. Nothing. She'd missed him, the voice was obviously male, again. She'd gotten up at 05:55 in order to catch whoever it was but clearly her brain was still a bit foggy in the morning. She could practically hear Reborn scolding her for such a stupid mistake. Anyone else in her family would have caught the guy by now, although they would have probably built some cruel and unusual trap to do it, and she hadn't because she'd forgotten to open the curtains. She flopped on the bed; so this was the result of years of training under some of the Mafia's best? The Vongola were going to be in so much trouble when she took over. Now, if only for her prides sake, she would definitely catch whoever it was.

Then again the person might be going to her school. Ugh. Those words: her school, just didn't sound right. It seemed no matter how many prayers she'd said last night today would be her first day attending Namimori school. Lyon was off terrorizing the neighbourhood birds somewhere which allowed her to get changed in peace. Yawning, she opened up her closet and pulled her new uniform out and spread it out on the bed. She hadn't really got a chance to look at it yesterday; she was to preoccupied with not getting lost, so she wondered what it-

Oh hell no!

There was no way, no way at all, that she was wearing that to school. Nu-uh. Not in a million years. Tsuna Sawada would never wear that skirt. Her eyebrow twitched, how was she supposed to move properly in that thing and what did the girls do when it was windy. She hated wearing skirts at the best of times. She picked up the "skirt" and threw it back in the closet. No matter how much Lussuria and her father tried, she would never be a girly-girl. Luckily she had accidentally bought the boys uniform yesterday along with the girls one and that had a pair of trousers she could wear. Surely, no-one would mind if she wore trousers instead of a skirt and she could always plead that it was how she dressed back in Italy, which was true.

Feeling slightly better she formed a uniform hybrid with the girls top and the boys trousers. The rest of the morning she spent eating breakfast, checking the safe and bandaging Lyons tail after she stepped on it by mistake. Cats could have really scary glares she discovered. Eventually though she had to set off, even though part of her wanted to wait for her family to turn up, she walked out the door with a school bag swinging on one shoulder. This was her task and they couldn't help her with it. She smiled as she imagined Xanxus and Squalo scaring off any possible guardian candidates. The small padding of feet behind her told her that Lyon had once again ignored her and was following her to school. She hoped he didn't try to claw anyone who came near her, though he only seemed to have a problem with guys.

Now the streets didn't look as empty and she could pick out the teenagers who were going to Namimori. There were a couple of other uniforms she couldn't recognise but she assumed they were from of the elite schools in the area. As she got closer and closer to her own personal hell one thing became outstandingly clear, she was the only girl in trousers. Any hope of not making a noticeable entrance was crushed as lots of curious eyes turned towards her. Sweat trickled down her neck and she clutched the bag a little tighter. This was a mistake she couldn-

Oompf. Suddenly someone crashed into her and pushed her forward but she was able to catch herself before she fell over. Tsuna turned around to see a girl standing there with a big bag in her hands. The girls eyes opened and she blushed red in embarrassment.

"I-I'm really sorry. I was in a rush and didn't look where I was going." Eager to have something to focus on besides the attention on her Tsuna shook her head.

"No it's fine. I shouldn't have been standing there looking like an idiot."

"But I bumped into you. You're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine seriously." The girl let out a relieved breath and stood a little straighter. She looked at Tsuna and a confused little frown appeared on her face.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met." Inwardly smacking her forehead Tsuna held out her hand.

"My mistake. I just moved here a couple of days ago. My name is Tsuna Sawada." The girl shook her hand with a lot of energy and there was a friendly smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kyoko Sasagawa." Tsuna was about to ask what class she was in before a third voice joined the conversation.

"Kyoko, there you are." Tsuna looked up to see a taller girl with long dark hair walk towards them. She found herself the object of another curious stare.

"I waited for you outside your house but your mum said you'd already gone."

"I'm very sorry Hana-chan but my brother forgot his kit again." The girl called Hana crossed her arms and snorted.

"I don't see why you have to lug his stuff to school when he can't remember." There was a slight awkward pause before Hana turned to Tsuna.

"So whose your new friend Kyoko?" It took a second or two before Tsuna realised that Hana was actually talking to her.

"I'm Tsuna, Tsuna Sawada. I moved here a couple of days ago from Italy." Hana's eyes widened slightly and Kyoko looked a little awed.

"Wow you've travelled a long distance to some here then." Tsuna nodded. Hana stuck out her own hand.

"I'm Hana Kurokawa." Her eyes travelled to Tsuna's uniform. "Did you buy the wrong uniform or something?" Tsuna blushed and felt some of her apprehension return.

"Umm, where I'm from I usually wear trousers and skirts make me feel uncomfortable."

"Well you'll probably have to get used to it if the disciplinary committee have anything to say about it."

"Hana! Don't scare her. I'm sure she'll be allowed to wear trousers." The bell suddenly went off making Tsuna jump a little at the noise. She had to go to the main office to collect her timetable. Kyoko and Hana headed towards what she guessed where the gym rooms. The orange haired girl looked back with a smile.

"I hope we're in the same class Tsuna-chan."

"Me to." She called out lamely as the two girls vanished into the crowd of pupils. Her first interaction with students and she hadn't completely humiliated herself! Walking with a bit more confidence she entered the halls of Namimori Middle school.

The main office was right the near entrance which was a bonus, and the principal seemed nice, despite the ridiculous uniform, though she got the feeling there was someone else with power here aswell as the man sat behind the desk. Her first class was mathematics. So not what she wanted to hear. It was her worst subject and one of the things Reborn was always going on at her about. She was alright but far from brilliant, and she had a feeling it would be a class where she wouldn't have to hide her abilities.

Most of the students were now in class so the corridors were empty as she navigated the map to her class. The plain door in front of her seemed to become the portal to the underworld and her hand was frozen on the doorknob. With a deep breath she reminded herself of her family and pushed open the door. The noise inside stopped as she walked in and Tsuna got her first look at her class. Twenty-eight pairs of eyes plus the teachers focused on her and she felt her knees tremble a bit. Forcing herself to face the teacher she handed him the note that the principal had given her. While he read it she glanced at her classmates. A weight lifted off her shoulders when she saw Kyoko and Hana sat in the middle of the class smiling at her. The class was an even split of girls and boys and she wondered how she was going to fit in to this group.

"Well Sawada-san, why don't you introduce yourself." She nodded at the teacher and turned to face the class.

"H-hello there. It's nice to meet you all. I'm Tsuna Sawada and I'm a new student here who just moved to Namimori a couple of days ago. I used to live in Italy with my family and I apologize if my Japanese isn't any good. I uh hope we can be friends." The classroom erupted with voices some talking to each other and others just yelling questions at her.

"Where did you live in Italy?"

"Why did you come here?"

"Why aren't you wearing the girls uniform?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" the teacher seemed to sense Tsuna's unease and quieted the class down.

"Now let's not scare our newest student off so quickly, you'll have plenty of time at break. Sawada-san there's a desk over there if you would please take a seat." She nodded and moved over to the death ignoring the stares at her back. Sitting down she pulled out a pen and pad and tried to immerse herself in the lesson. If she tried hard she could imagine that it was just another one of Reborn's lectures and she had to block out all distractions in order to listen to his voice. The only difference was the distractions were the twenty-seven pupils staring at her and the voice she was listening to wasn't Reborns. It worked enough for her to get through the lesson.

Unfortunately, the lesson would have to end and she would have to face them. The bell went and Tsuna knew they had about five minutes before the next lesson. Sure enough as soon as the teacher left there was a swarm of pupils around her desk firing out questions at light speed. She felt a little dazed at the attention and sank a little further into her desk.

"Hey give her some room to breathe you lot." She looked up as Hana cut through the crowd with Kyoko behind her. At Hana's glare most of the group disappeared and Tsuna let her shoulders drop.

"Thank you, that was a little overwhelming."

"Don't worry about it in a dew weeks you'll just be another student here."

"I hope so." Hana gave her a smile.

"Though the boys certainly seemed to like you well enough." Tsuna blinked.

"They were all pretty friendly."

"I mean that you should expect to be asked for a date."

"Uh it's the eleventh of July." Hana and Kyoko just stared at her.

"Don't you know what a date is?" Tsuna had a sinking feeling she'd just made a fool of herself in front of her potential new friends.

"The time of year?" At there shocked looks she elaborated. "Sorry, I had a pretty sheltered childhood."

"What school did yo go to in Italy Tsuna-chan?" Kyoko asked. Feeling even more embarrassed she looked down.

"I was home-schooled. This is my first school."

_Italy-Varia headquarters_

The recruit wished the ground would swallow him whole. He'd rather have faced a stampede of raging wildebeests than report his news to his boss and commanding officers. There was a deadly silence from all the members but that wasn't a good sign.

"Repeat what you just said to me scum." The quiet tone of Xanxus's voice did nothing to calm the man's nerves.

"T-Tsuna Sawada is no longer at the V-Vongola h-headquarters sir. T-The Ninth has s-sent her on a special mission out of Italy."

Dead silence.

One.

Two.

Three.

"VOOOIIIIIII!Where the hell is she trash?"

"Shishishi, tell us now before I use you as my new target dummy."

"Oh. My poor sister is alone and afraid in the world hold on Tsu-chan. Lussuria-nee is coming."

"Consider your wages gone recruit."

"I should kill you for angering the boss."

Scars started to appear on their bosses face and red eyes froze the unfortunate messenger in place.

"Where the fuck has she been sent to?"

"I-I d-don't know sir."

The next noise was a hail of gunshots and yelling that echoed around the whole mansion.

**AN: OK chapter 6 is up, this is only half of Tsuna's day there's still a lot more to come. One question, do you guys want Mukuro to already have appeared and is attending the school (under close surveillance) or do you want Tsuna to face him in a situation like the manga? Any reviews are appreciated and I will try to answer any questions you ask, providing there not spoilers. Thanks a lot, oh and if any of you like Hetalia Axis powers please check out my stories in that on my profile.**

**Reviews:**

**Sachiel Angelo: Reborn won't appear for a bit, probably not until she's gathered most of her guardians though he may call or make an early surprise visit. Not sure yet.**

**Seriyuu: To a degree yes but the final pairing will be down to me and if I can write it well. As for Tsuna's reaction to Hibari? You'll have to wait and see.**

**Lascka: Allx27? It's a possibility and I won't discount anything but like I said before. This isn't focused on the pairing.**

**FaerieDemon: Yes Lyon is meant to represent an early Natsu but I also wanted her to have a pet for some reason. Personally I'm more of a dog person but Tsuna fits a cat better.**

**Clippit: No Tsuna hasn't met Gokudera in Italy yet but she may have heard about him from reborn or others. I know no guardians have officially met her yet but that should change next chapter. **

**Song of the Cursed Child: If by Cradle incident you mean Xanxus discovering he's adopted then yes it has happened. That's all I'll say ;)**

**X. Yuee . X: Thank you for your reviews they're really fun to read :) Dino's reaction should come up soon after a certain assassination group tell him what's happened. Hope you liked the reaction.**

**Everyone else: Thanks for reviewing!**


	8. First Day: Part two

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 7

Tsuna had just learned how high a girl could squeal. It was at an impressive level and her ears were still ringing slightly an hour later. After she'd told Hana and Kyoko that she'd never been to a school before Kyoko had hugged her tightly and squealed. Apparently, that made her cute, though she failed to see how, and the two girls had stuck with her for the rest of the day. It helped calm her nerves a bit, having people around her, she wasn't by nature a solitary creature and was used to being surrounded by people, though they were some of the most dangerous men and women on the planet. Her next class was geography and she had it with Hana so it was slightly less nerve-wrecking then maths

No-one had tried to approach her apart from Kyoko and Hana, the other students were just content to stare at her in class or whisper about her. It made her uncomfortable but she tried not to let it show, she was the "new kid", of course they were going to be curious about her. The only slightly odd thing was the stare she felt throughout the day, whoever it was wasn't like the other students and actually made her feel less nervous. It reminded her of being back at Italy surrounded by danger and she was already trying to figure out who the person could be. Now and then she'd look in the direction of the stare but she'd always miss them. She wondered if it was the boy from yesterday, Hibari and the disciplinary committee. She'd spotted the tall, thuggish boys of course from the moment she entered the school. They all had the same ridiculous hairstyle and seemed to enjoy terrorizing the other students, less like a disciplinary committee, more like a gang.

She pondered the strange situation at the school at lunch, only vaguely replying to Kyoko's questions about her home. She didn't want to dwell too much on Italy, otherwise her homesickness would flare up again. Lyon's presence helped a lot. Whenever some of the more eager students got to close to her, mostly boys, a hiss would be heard and they'd all jump away from her instantly. Just now she caught sight of an orange blob prowling the school roof. Yes, the cat had definitely been given an order by her father to look after her, and like her father he was a tad overzealous about it. Tsuna chewed the food almost robot-like as she analysed her time spent in Namimori so far; her new EXTREME alarm clock (whom she was going to catch tomorrow), the threatening disciplinary committee, Kyoya Hibari and of course the task of finding her guardians. There was one area of her stay that she shied away from completely; her mother. Tsuna knew that the Nono had hoped she would finally find some peace over her mothers murder when she came, but Tsuna just couldn't deal with that right now. She hadn't visited her old house yet either. She would need more courage than she currently possessed for that trip. As her mind returned to the present Tsuna suddenly realised that a rather important item was missing.

"No." She whispered as she looked around desperately for her bag. It wasn't the books inside she was worried about. That bag held her X-gloves. The ring was secure around her neck so it wasn't like she was helpless. What had her going white with panic was the thought of what Reborn would do if he discovered she'd lost her custom Leon-made gloves which the chameleon had spent so much time on.

"Kyoko, have you seen my bag anywhere?" Her new acquaintance (friend?) turned to her with a concerned look.

"No I haven't Tsuna-chan. Did you leave it behind during your last lesson?" Her last lesson had been science. She stood up from the lunch table.

"I'll be right back, sorry for running out on you." Hana looked up at her.

"Do you want us to come with you?" It had taken less than five minutes for Hana to discover just how bad/non-existent her sense of direction was.

"No, No I'll be fine. I'll see you after lunch." The two nodded and she practically ran out the canteen. She didn't know how or when but eventually Reborn would find out she'd lost them and then there would be hell to pay. An instinctive shudder raced down her spin at the thought of some of her tutors more insane punishments. Just as she was running down the hallway to the science labs her feet stopped. Her hyper intuition suddenly rose up and she turned to face the stairs that led to the roof. Without taking a second to doubt it she started climbing.

The roof door opened and she stepped outside. It was quite windy up here and once again she was glad she'd opted for trousers rather than a skirt. Her eyes scanned the roof looking for any sign of her bag, or the person who'd obviously found it, they settled on a black figure sitting near the edge of the roof. She recognised him instantly, Kyoya Hibari. Although a little confused over why he would have her bag she walked towards him without any fear or hesitation. When she was only a couple of feet away from him his eyes flashed open and he turned his head towards her.

"I don't like being crowded herbivore. Leave now." She chuckled a little and sat down next to him, he reminded her of Xanxus when she first met him, prickly and eager to lash out.

"I'll go just as soon as you give me back my bag." She met his gaze with her own, eyes not wavering an inch.

"What makes you think I have your bag herbivore?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Just a feeling." His eyes looked down at her uniform and she felt the change in the air, like the calm before a storm.

"Not wearing the proper uniform is against the rules, I'll bite you to death if you don't change it." She let out a bark of laughter and was rewarded with a glimmer of shock in his eyes.

"I'm very sorry Hibari-san but there's no way I'm wearing the girls uniform." His eyes closed again and he turned his head away form her.

"Then you will be bitten to death."

"I look forward to it Hibari-san." His eyes turned on her again and for a second she let him see her true strength. A smirk made its way onto his face and with one hand he threw her her bag. "Thank you so much for keeping it safe." She stood up and gave a slight bow before turning to walk back downstairs. He didn't say anything else but she could feel his eyes on her. On her way down she passed one of the committee boys and he stared at her with shock and a tiny bit of respect.

For the rest of the day her thoughts remained on Hibari and the fight she'd promised him. He was strong she could tell that, but she didn't know his weapon of choice or his fighting style so she would have to be careful going into it. Reborn would never forgive her if she lost. It got easier to ignore the stares as the day went on and when the final bell went she hardly noticed them. As the students practically ran out of school she waved a bye to Kyoko and Hana, who had to go support her brother for a boxing match, and looked around for her cat. He'd disappeared. Feeling a twinge of worry she went back inside to search for him. It wasn't like him to keep her waiting and there was no way he'd let her walk home on her own

She was searching one of the classrooms when she spotted a fat blob of orange fur near the sports field. Letting out a breath of relief she opened the window and climbed outside. Annoyance now replaced worry, she had homework to do, chores to do and her father wanted her to call tonight. Lyon was lying on some of the stand for baseball and she picked him up, a little roughly, and bundled him into her bag.

"Oh, ids that your cat then?" The question startled her and she whipped her head around to see a boy, about her age, standing on the field with a baseball bat in his hands. "I was wondering who he belonged to." He smiled and she smiled back.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him, he likes to wander off a lot."

"I didn't know we were allowed pets at school." She blushed a little and looked away.

"A-Actually I don't think we are. Lyon just likes to follow me everywhere." As if to confirm it there was a mewing from her bag. The boy laughed and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Takeshi Yamamoto." She already knew that, he was in a couple of her classes but he'd always had a faraway look in his eye, as if his mind was elsewhere.

"I'm Tsuna Sawada." His widened slightly in recognition.

"Oh, you're the new student right." She nodded and he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry for not recognising you sooner." She waved the apology away. Her eyes focused on the arm holding the baseball bat and she felt a spike of concern when she saw the almost strained grip he had on it.

"What are you doing out here after school Yamamoto-san?" He held up the bat and gestured to the playing field.

"I'm just practising for a baseball game I've got tomorrow. Sometimes I get a little carried away though." While she kept a smile on her face she inwardly frowned. There was something off about him, something just a little too happy and forced about his smile that caused her to worry. But she didn't know him well enough to ask really.

"Well thanks for watching Lyon for me. He's pretty important to me."

"You're welcome, it was nice having something with me while I practice." Before she knew what she was doing she sat down on the stand.

"Do you want me stay then." He looked a little shocked at her offer, but she was resolved to stay. Maybe it was her intuition or maybe just that twinge of worry but she didn't want to leave just yet.

"Sure if you want." He smiled again, and it seemed a little more real. "I'd be glad of the company." She smiled and mad her self comfortable on the bench.

_Tsuna's house_

In the middle of the living room a tiny figure sat hunched over a box full of weapons including; guns, grenades, bazookas and throwing knives. The little figure smiled and started to jump up and down in delight.

"Soon, Reborn. Soon you will bow before the greatness of the awesome Lambo!" Unfortunately he jumped too high, hit his head on a lamp and fell to the floor with stars flying round his head.

_Italy – Vongola HQ_

The ninth boss of the Vongola sat behind his desk staring at the picture in h is hands. It was the same one Tsuna had and brought a smile to his face. The little girl had always managed to bring some light to this place and now that she was gone, the old darkness was creeping back. He'd just had to deal with a very tiring phone-call from his son about Tsuna leaving Italy and he felt completely exhausted. He'd known that Xanxus wouldn't take it well and when he wouldn't tell him where Tsuna was the line had gone dead; not from Xanxus hanging up but from him destroying the phone. It probably wouldn't take long before he got calls form the Cavallone Famiglia and the Shimon Famiglia either.

Timoteo sighed as he looked down at the form in front of him. It was a request by the sun commander of the Varia for the permission to build a new left wing for the Varia headquarters. Apparently the old one had been destroyed. It didn't take a genius to work out how.

_Varia HQ_

Xanxus was furious; the old man had refused to tell him where she was and Mammon hadn't been able to find any trace of her yet either. What the fuck had the man been thinking? Sending her off on her own like that, the girl was completely clueless and was the most trusting person her knew. An assassin could just knock on the door with a gun in his hand and she'd invite him in for fucking tea and biscuits. He had to know where she was and the Ninth was the only one he knew, that he could get hold of. So he'd have to put more pressure on the old man.

His fingers swiftly dialled a number on the phone. There were a couple of beeps before someone picked up.

"Hello this is Dino, who-"

"Tsuna's gone scum."

"...WHAT!"

**AN: Sorry for the really long wait and I hope this was worth it. I'm stunned by the amount of reviews this has gotten and would like to thank everyone for their support. I'm still not sure how to include Mukuro just yet but I'm working on it.**

**Reviews:**

**Seriyuu: No the pairing doesn't really matter at the moment but feel free to cast your vote for Hibari.**

**BlackenedOrchid: I am going to keep the loveable trio in don't worry :) As for Naito I have an idea about what to do with him but he won't appear until she's got at least a few of her guardians.**

**Sachiel Angelo: If they can find her they would defiantly try, but a certain Vongola boss and baby hitman may try to stop them.**

**Clippit: It will appear in a flashback or dream sequence and Tsuna does play apart in it but you will have to wait and see :)**

**TakeshiYamamoto2980: I really dislike short skirts, they just annoy me a lot. Some of the girls at my school wear ridiculously short ones and it's just irritating. I don't mid long skirts though it's just the short ones that bug me.**


	9. Brats and Baseball

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 8

It was pretty late when Tsuna finally arrived at her door; Yamamoto had insisted on practising for ages, and something had made her stay with him for the whole time. The boy had been friendly and asked her a little about herself, but it had been clear to Tsuna that he was struggling to keep the smile on his face form crumbling and she was worried he may do something drastic. She could see Lyon jump through her bedroom window as she searched for her keys and scowled at the waving tail. Darn cat. Eager to have some dinner and get some sleep she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"AHA! YOU HAVE FALLEN INTO THE GREAT LAMBO-SAN'S TRAP!" Tsuna barely had time to blink before a barrage of various weapons came shooting straight at her. Her training kicked in and she nimbly dodged the projectiles and landed on her two feet in the living-room. The smoke made it impossible to see who had attacked her but the voice was clearly that of a child; her mind raced through a list of assassins and enemies to Vongola trying to figure out just who this "Lambo-san" was. She hadn't realised the attacks would come this early, but what was more worrying was the fact that her intuition hadn't alerted her to the danger.

The click of a gun was heard and years of learning under Reborn kicked in. Spinning towards the noise she lunged forward, fists aflame and punched her attacker into the wall. Waiting for him to get up again Tsuna was shocked to hear someone crying. Deactivating her flames she stepped forward, still a bit wary over being attacked again, and as the smoke began to clear she finally saw "Lambo-san."

The boy couldn't have been more than 5 years old. He was wearing, of all things, a cow-print jumpsuit and his black hair was styled if you could call it that, into a bush afro. Green eyes were blurred by the river of tears that poured out of him and the boy would have been cute if it wasn't for the snot streaming out of his nose. A purple gun lay at his feet, along with several other types of dangerous weapon, but the boy was too busy bawling to take any notice.

"Wah! You hurt Lambo-san! Stupid Reborn-baka!" He pointed a small fist at her and shook it angrily. Tsuna was at a complete loss at what to do. She had never seen this boy before in her life and was sure that Reborn had never mentioned him either. Still, despite his attack she hated the sight of a child crying so she slowly knelt down to his level.

"I think you have me mistaken with someone else little boy. I'm not Reborn." Her voice was gentle and the boy's sobs eased up a bit. He rubbed one of his eyes with a hand and looked up at her, She could practically see the cogs in his head turning.

"Y-Y-You're not R-Reborn." She shook her head and he scowled. "W-Why d-did you hit me c-crazy lady?" She frowned and crossed her arms.

"You attacked me first."

"I thought you were Reborn." Letting out a breath she counted to ten in her head.

"Well I'm not him. My name is Tsuna Sawada of the Vongola. Who are you?" Suddenly the boy was on his feet again and any sign of his tears had magically vanished.

"I am the great Lambo-san of the Bovino Family. I, Lambo-san, will one day be the greatest Mafia boss in the world and make everyone bow down to me. But to do that my boss says that I have to beat Reborn." Tsuna pushed aside the worrying fact that someone had sent a 5 year old after _Reborn_ and tried to place his Family name.

"Bovino, Bovino.." It sounded familiar and then it clicked. The Bovino were a Family allied to the Vongola. Even though they were small and quite weak the weapons they produced were some of the best in the world. However, they were considered to be a lesser family, which was why Reborn had never mentioned them, and she'd only known about them through her own research about the Vongola.

"Nice to meet you Lambo-kun. Um, sorry to tell you this but Reborn is in Italy at the moment and he won't be coming here for a while." At that Lambo seemed to deflate and she could see tears beginning to pool in his eyes. She cursed mentally as she felt her heart soften at the adorable sight and clenched her hands to stop them from hugging the boy. "But, why don't we get you cleaned up and get some food in you." At that Lambo brightened and followed her as she walked to the kitchen.

Over dinner Tsuna learnt a lot about Lambo and the Bovino Family and at the end she was fuming. How dare they send a 5 year old boy to a strange country alone to take on one of the most powerful and ruthless killers in the Mafia. It was disgraceful! She had to stop herself from scowling when she heard about the boss's nonchalant attitude towards Lambo, even though he was his father, and reminded herself that this was the reason she was becoming the 10th boss: to change the Mafia.

In the short hour that he'd known Tsuna, Lambo seemed to have decided that she was nice enough to stay with and this led to her making him a bed in one of the guest rooms. Watching the small boy scramble under the covers she just knew that this was the start of another headache for her. Still, he did look cute when he fell asleep.

_Italy-Vongola Mansion_

Reborn stared at the information in his hands and looked up to meet the ninths gaze.

"You know that this will be a problem." His voice was bland and respectful but the ninth could hear the tiniest trace of worry in the hitmans tone. He sat back in his chair and placed his hands on the desk.

"Yes, I have already had to order Iemitsu not to go after her to protect her. This is something she must deal with on her own, or with her own Famiglia not with you, her father or the friends she has here. Which is why I am ordering you to stay here until I say you may leave." Reborn could understand the reasons behind the order but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"He could kill her you know." If any of his student's friends found this out blood would spill. The "cradle incident" would seem like a vacation compared to this. For a second he could see Tsuna lying cold on the floor in that unmoving, unnatural way that all corpses possessed and his chest seemed just a little too tight.

"I know that as well, but I trust in my heir. You've trained her well Reborn, now believe that she will put that training to use. Besides, you act like she will face this on her own." Reborn looked up. "Do you really think that that girl will not have gathered her guardians by then?" Timoteo picked up his pen and resumed writing. 2I have every confidence in her my friend, she will do you proud I am sure."

Reborn turned to look out the window; at the bright blue sky that encompassed all and hoped that his boss was right.

_Namimori School_

"Tsuna-chan you look awful!"

"Kyoko-chan, don't be rude. But you do look pretty bad." Tsuna only nodded at her two friends. It had been one of the worse mornings of her life. First there had been the human alarm clock that for some reason had been extra early today. Then she'd had to deal with a tired crabby 5 year old assassin, who by the way had decided that she was his new mama, and then Lyon had caused her to fall down the stairs. It almost made her miss Reborns wake up calls, almost.

"Let's just say that I had a really bad morning." The two girls nodded and continued on their way to school. Once again as they passed through the gates Tsuna felt the eyes of Hibari focus on her. Her temper already frayed she didn't have the patience to just ignore it this time and turned to glare right back at him. There he was sat on the roof as usual scowling at her and she childishly stuck her tongue out at him. So what if he'd given her back her bag? Staring was rude and she was too tired and moody to deal with it at the moment.

A dark aura suddenly encompassed the area and most of the students quickly went (ran for their lives) indoors. Tsuna only chuckled and followed them in at her own pace. She would have to fight him or else risk being "bitten to death", which frankly didn't sound sanitary at all. Her eyes spotted a mop of black hair and she stopped to spin around. A grin crossed her face and she called out:

"Good morning Yamamoto-san." Said boy turned around and, once he realised who it was, smiled back at her.

"Nice to see you again Tsuna-chan." She blinked at the added suffix but kept the grin on her face. It slipped when she saw the bandage on his arm.

"What happened to you?" Yamamoto looked at his arm and gave an awkward chuckle.

"Well after you left, I went back to just slip in another half hour practice, but I guess I pushed myself to hard because I end up hurting my arm really badly." A feeling of guilt washed over Tsuna. Why hadn't she made sure he had gone home? The darkness in his eyes was even clearer now and the smile looked more fake then ever.

"Yamamoto-san..." The bell cut her off and before she could finish her sentence the boy had disappeared into the throng of students on their way to class. She heard Hana and Kyoko call out her name and she walked back towards them. Still that fake smile and those dull eyes stayed in her mind and her fingers tightened on her bag. This was not going to end well.

She ran the morning classes on auto-pilot. Her mind was too worried about Yamamoto to properly engage with the lesson. She could feel the tension being pulled tighter and tighter and soon it would snap. She would have to check on him at break. Trying to focus on the teacher she went back to writing down various historical facts and figures, hoping that she wouldn't too late.

"Are you sure you're feeling OK Tsuna-chan? You've been acting strange all lesson."

Tsuna only smiled and tried to soothe her friends fears. "I'm fine really, just getting used to school you know." Hana said nothing only narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "Really Hana-chan."

Suddenly a boy came swerving round the corner and nearly ran into the three girls.

"Hey watch were your going idiot." Hana snapped.

"Have you guys not heard it?" Tsuna frowned at the panic on his face.

"Heard what?"

"Yamamoto-san is about to jump off the roof!" Tsuna's blood froze in her veins and before Kyoko or Hana could reply she was already running for the stairs.

* * *

He'd never imagined that it would come to this. He really hadn't. Takeshi Yamamoto stared down at the ground below him with an almost bored gaze. The only emotion he really felt was despair and the odd twinge of pain in his arm. His injured arm. His other hand clenched into a fist and for a moment frustration swallowed up the despair. Baseball was all he lived for and if he couldn't even do that right then...what was the point? His hand began to loosen on the railing.

"Yamamoto-san!" The cry nearly scared him out of is skin and his hand latched onto the rail. Turning his head slightly he saw the new girl, Tsuna-chan, standing behind him. She was panting and was very red in the face. "Please, please don't do this!" Oh, so that's why she was here. To stop him.

"Sorry, Tsuna-chan but it's the only way for me. My entire life has been about baseball and now I can't play any more."

"B-But your arm will get better." Her eyes shone with confusion, fear and worry.

"It's not just my arm. Lately, I've been getting worse at baseball and no matter what I do. No matter how hard I try or how much I practice it's only going down. It's been my whole life and if I can't do it then theirs no point is there." He expected her to understand or at least see how serious he was about it so that she'd go.

"That's utter bullshit!" She yelled, and that alone nearly sent him over the edge. "What about the other things in your life? What about the people who care about you? Your family and friends. Don't you care how they feel?" An image of his father crossed his mind but he shook it out of his head.

"I don't have any real friends Tsuna, (his voice was agitated now) they only like me because of baseball. Besides why should it matter to you what I do with my life?"

Suddenly she was right beside him, on the opposite side of the fence. "Because I don't want you to die Takeshi Yamamoto." His eyes widened at the truth and conviction in her voice.

"Tsuna-"

"No! You listen to me. I know what happens when a loved one dies. I've seen and felt the gap it leaves in a persons family and heart. It's the worst feeling in the entire world, and for you to inflict that on your family voluntarily...that's not right. So you can't play baseball any more? Find something new to live for. I know how precious a life is, and I won't let you waste yours." Staring into those big brown eyes Yamamoto felt something in his chest loosen. She meant what she said. Slowly he started to pull himself back up.

A creak pierced the silence, and he just heard Tsuna yell out a no before the rail broke and he was sent tumbling forward. The cold hard concrete reached up to meet him, but he no longer wanted to die. A pair of small arms wrapped around his waste and they were slowing him down? A pulse of orange flame blinded him and he landed with an oof on the floor. Head spinning slightly he opened his eyes only to find himself on the ground, alive.

"Are you OK?" He looked next to him and saw Tsuna arms still wrapped around him. She'd saved his life. Speechless he was only able to nod. Quick as lightning a hand shot out and whacked his head. "Don't ever think of doing something like that again!"

His eyes took in the small girl wiping her eyes with her shirt, she had saved him and had put her own life in danger to do it. That warm feeling in his chest flooded his whole body. For the first time in weeks he gave a true smile and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I promise." She smiled back, and he swore that he would make it up to her. After all he needed a new reason right?

Tsuna had no idea of the bond she'd made that day or that she'd finally begun to search for her Guardians.

_Italy Cavallone Mansion_

"I don't care if she's impossible to trace. Find Tsuna now." Romario shut his eyes as he saw his boss rush along the hall speaking on the phone.

"Boss, I'm sure the Ninth won't let anything happen to Sawada-chan. She can take care of herself." Dino spun round and almost glared at his subordinate.

"Do you have any idea the amount of trouble that girl can find? She could be wounded. Or in debt. Or ill. Or upset. Or..." His boss cut off and resumed waling down the hall. "She needs someone to look after her, and who better than m-." The words would have had a much greater effect if he hadn't just fallen down the stairs. Romario shook his head. The one thing that could make the boss clumsy around his men: worry for Tsuna Sawada.

**AN: Hello! (Dodges various pointy things thrown by readers) I'm sorry for the delay! Really. Life's just been ugh! lately. So this is the next chapter and I hope it was worth it. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, they really helped me push through this chapter and I hope you like it. I will try and update faster but I'm busy with school and Uni application and homework, but I will try and be faster.**

**Reviews:**

**For the last time to anyone wanting to know about pairings! I haven't decided yet! You're free to offer suggestions but it won't play a huge part until further on. I may drop hints of it though OK.**

**As for Mukuro, still not sure about him but I've got some ideas.**

**Sachiel Angelo: The reason Xanxus and the others don't know where she is, is because she has to do this on her own without the influence of the Varia, Dino, the Shimon etc and they wouldn't let her go alone if they knew. They're a little overprotective :) Appearance wise Tsuna is the same height and shape basically (though curvier) and hair and eyes are the same colour. Her hair is straight though and usually in a pony tail. Oh, and she wears the guys uniform.**

**Jestie kiryuu: What happens when Xanxus finds out where Tsuna is and what she's doing?...RUN FOR YOUR LIVES :)**

**MysteryPurplePerson: No she does not have the bow around her neck. That thing just annoys me so I imagine Tsuna burnt it before she went to school.**


	10. Greeneyed Glare

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 9

Kyoya Hibari was not a person who was easily confused. His view of the world was very simple; those who were weak and huddled together in crowds, believing that safety was in numbers, were the herbivores and those like him who lived to fight and who pushed their strength higher and higher were the carnivores. Obviously the carnivores were above the herbivores, and held the right to prey on the weaker ones for amusement. It had become very clear to him that he was the only true carnivore in Namimori school. The members if his discipline committee were nothing more than bulky stupid herbivores who were perhaps slightly more useful then the regular students. Tetsuya Kusakabe was a little bit higher in the food chain, but not by much.

He had lived with this view for nearly his whole life and to him it was absolute truth: there was no blurred line between the prey and the predators, one could not be both. Then _she_ had appeared. Tsunayoshi Sawada was the most irritating creature that he had ever met. She joined in with the other herbivores in crowding, she had "friends" and she seemed desperate to please, so clearly she should have been a herbivore. However, there was an oddity about her, when she met his gaze (which was surprising enough) he could see that she was different. Instead of looking scared, confused or worse enamoured (in the way some of the more idiotic females looked at him) she had looked angry, confident and understanding. The first time he'd seen her she had smirked at him and had made no move to back down. It was as if she was a carnivore disguised as a herbivore.

He didn't know what to make of her, and that frustrated him. Frustration was not an emotion that Hibari felt often, in fact the only other time he felt it was when he was dealing with that noisy animal who was captain of the boxing club; no matter how he hard he beat him up the idiot came back smiling and ready for more. Well at least he would be able to solve this Sawada problem soon. Their fight would be soon, in the next one or two days if she kept on wearing the wrong uniform to school, just another annoying thing about her, and then he would be able to settle the matter once and for all.

The noise of the first bell caused home to open his eyes and he watched as the herbivores hurried into his school, taking note of any who would have to be bitten to death. Scanning the crowd he felt a flicker of surprise when he saw Sawada enter the school gates. She was not alone. Takeshi Yamamoto was walking with her, another one who was hard to classify though he was leaning towards the carnivore side, wasn't he supposed to be dead? The baseball player was talking to Sawada with a grin on his face and he seemed a lot less tense than he had been. Sawada appeared to be unnerved by the attention and was looking straight ahead with a nervous expression. For some reason he felt a spike of irritation and he looked away quickly.

Turning his attention back to the crowd he resumed his scan: the noisy animal was apologizing to his sister for something and he noticed that Namimori had another new student. As he was not in a good mood the sight of this newest herbivores breaking of the rules his eyes narrowed and felt his blood-lust beginning to stir. Just what he needed to deal with this frustration he was feeling.

* * *

Well this was certainly...different. She'd woken up early again, the boy screaming outside her window had better hope that she never find out who he is, Lambo had decided that he wanted six different types of breakfast. She had tried to say no but the kids sad face was utterly adorable and he'd called her mama again..OK next thing to do, find a backbone when dealing with young children, it had been the same problem with Reborn. Lyon had decided to use her school jumper for a blanket and she was sneezing constantly from all the hairs that he'd left. Her father had given her a call to see how his precious daughter was getting on. Now Tsuna loved her dad a lot, but that didn't mean she loved excruciatingly long phone calls with him. Especially when he was ranting about how "unsafe" public school was. It was hard not to see the irony in the head of CEDEF saying that.

Coupled with all that had been the twinge of homesickness, which happened every day, and she had to resist calling anyone else. From what her dad had let slip her family weren't taking her disappearance well, the words inferno, rage and horror did nothing to calm her. Then Lambo had told her that he was going to "be an awesomely cool hit-man and examine the area" in case "that evil Reborn tries to take mama and attack the great Lambo" , before he jumped out the window. She had been worried when she'd heard the yell but by then she was running late so she'd had to go.

So she'd opened the door and ran out...straight into Takeshi Yamamoto's chest. Then there had followed an extremely awkward and embarrassing moment with her spluttering apologies and him waving them away. They'd ended up walking to school together. Her complete lack of social skills had manifested themselves with a fury and she had spent most of the walk just nodding or shaking her head. It was good that Yamamoto didn't seem to mind, he only smiled and spoke for both of them. It eased her a little that his smile seemed real now and that her talk seemed to have helped him. They entered the school gates just as the bell rang and she didn't have time to look for Kyoko or Hana.

She and Yamamoto entered their classroom and she took her usual spot second from the back. She wondered where Yamamoto would sit when she felt the chair squeak next to her. Her eyes widened when she saw the baseball player sit down next to her.

"Y-Yamamoto-kun?" He turned to face her.

"Yeah Tsuna?" Suddenly feeling a little mean she dropped her gaze a little.

"Don't you usually sit elsewhere?" She glanced up again and saw that he didn't look angry or upset. He nodded.

"Yeah, but I'd rather sit here. You don't mind do you?" She shook her head quickly.

"No, no, I was just wondering why."

"Because I wanted to." He said it bluntly and his eyes suddenly became a little more focused. Tsuna wasn't sure _why_ she felt a little better but she was finally able to meet his eyes and give him a small, but genuine, smile on her own.

"Class today we have another new student." Just like that Tsuna felt a piercing and very unfriendly gaze aimed at her. If she hadn't been who she was it would have caused her to freeze up, there was that much anger in it. But it wasn't enough to scare her and she turned to face it calmly.

"This is Hayato Gokudera an Italian transfer student. Please make him feel welcome. Take a seat Gokudera-san." Hayato Gokudera, Gokudera, she frowned at the familiar name. Where had she heard it before? Bianchi. The poison scorpion had come round a few times during the final years of her training and spent most of it pandering to Reborns every wish. It had been annoying to Tsuna, she was used to Reborns undivided attention when he was training her and Bianchi had disrupted it. To make matters even more tense the red-head had somehow got the idea that Tsuna was trying to steal Reborn away from her, and Tsuna had been on the receiving end of both glares and poisonous cooking.

Her brothers glare was remarkably similar to her. They had the same green eyes.

The situation had been resolved when Tsuna had revealed that she didn't know how to cook. Bianchi had been horrified and dragged her to the nearest kitchen. The two had been friends ever since.

She turned her attention back to the boy at the front trying to remember what Bianchi had told her about her brother. She knew that there was a spare desk behind her and as he was walking towards her it wasn't too hard to see where he was going. He never stopped glaring at her. If she had looked to her right she would have seen Yamamoto narrow his gaze at their newest classmate.

He stopped at her desk and she looked up. The glare would have intimidated many people but not her, not when she remembered what Bianchi had told her about his past. She saw his knee jerk upwards and moved just enough so that it was only her desk that was knocked to the floor.

"Gokudera-san!" The teacher gasped but Tsuna paid no notice, she continued to stare up at the glaring boy with a blank face and it was him who turned away first. The moment broken she glanced across at Yamamoto.

"I wonder what's wrong with him." Yamamoto just shrugged his shoulders but the hardness on his face didn't disappear. Tsuna picked up her desk and turned back to the flustered teacher who was trying to begin a history lesson. The glare didn't leave her back for the whole morning.

By the time lunch came Tsunami was a teeny-weeny-minuscule-particle-sized-little bit irritated with the glare and was glad when the bell came. She knew she'd have to deal with him soon and she wasn't looking forward to it. Luckily though the teacher asked him to stay behind for a talk about "proper behaviour."

"Tsuna." She turned to see Yamamoto following her out the room. "Do you mind if I join you for lunch." Her eyebrows rose a little and she glanced behind him to see his "fan-club" glaring at her, although some of them were making heart eyes at Gokudera.

"Don't you want to eat with any of your uh fans?" She felt her face flush again and she wished fiercely that she was better at this sort of thing. He laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"I'd rather eat with you today if that's OK?" She nodded and together the two of them headed towards the roof. It felt weird, in Italy it was too dangerous for her to have causal lunches with her friends. Not after a disastrous meeting with Enma when some rival Family had thought they'd get rid of both of them. The assassin had been good and it was only thanks to her then-bodyguard Squalo that she had survived. Having lunch in a free open space with no bodyguards was a completely new experience for her. It was nice.

"So do you know Gokudera from Italy?" She turned from staring at the horizon to see Yamamoto staring at her. He looked concerned.

"I've never met him before in my life." He frowned.

"Then why did he try and knock you over in class?" She was surprised at his concern but was grateful that he wasn't like any of her other friends who would probably had attacked Gokudera on the spot.

"I really don't know.." That was the truth, she didn't know why he would be angry at her when his issues seemed to be more with his family.

"Maybe he just had a stomach ache or something." She let out a little laugh at that and returned to her lunch.

It was a pleasant lunch. Until an explosion destroyed the atmosphere and shook the ground. It had come from behind the school. Tsuna spun around as Yamamoto braced himself on the chain barrier.

"What was that?" he asked. Tsuna was bout to say that she didn't know before a piece of information from one of Reborns files crossed her head: Smokin' Bomb Hayato. Oh no. Not stopping to answer her companion she ran in the direction of the noise. Without stopping she leapt off the other end of the building hardly hearing Yamamoto's shocked yell.

She slowed herself down with a burst of flame and hit the floor running. Nearly there.

Swerving round a corner her feet skidded to a stop when she saw the scene in front. Hayato Gokudera was standing in the middle of an area that looked like a demolition crew had just been through. There were numerous sticks of dynamite in his hands and he was in a fighting stance. His clothes were ripped and a wound on his forehead was bleeding. The glare was still there but directed at someone different. She looked across to see Hibari standing calmly on the other side with a pair of steel tonfas in his hands; a small purple flame flickering around them.

He looked bored.

"You will come to school tomorrow in the correct uniform tomorrow herbivore." His voice was bland but she could see the warning in his eyes. Apparently Gokudera could not.

"Like hell I will! Double Bomb!" He released a torrent of dynamite at Hibari. The prefect only hmmed and lunged forward. There was another explosion and Tsuna shielded her eyes. She heard someone yell out and a body hit the wall with a sickening thud.

The smoke cleared and she looked up to see Hibari standing where Gokudera had been and Hayato embedded slightly into the wall. The bomber drew up the strength from somewhere and lifted his head to glare at his opponent. Hibari however, was focusing on the damage to his school's wall and he lifted his tonfas up once more.

"You have damaged school property herbivore, for that I will bite you to death." Gokudera spat out a mouthful of blood. Hibari moved forward again.

Gokudera closed his eyes for the final blow to land, cursing himself for not finding the fake tenth boss and dealing with her. He could sense the weapon a hairsbreadth from his face...They stopped. He opened his eyes and almost gasped at what he saw. The girl, the fake tenth was standing between him and the bastard, blocking the tonfas with her hands.

Her hands were aglow with an orange flame and a similar one burned on her forehead. She'd dug her feet into the ground and even then she seemed to be struggling to hold him back. Hibari narrowed his eyes and applied more force, she pushed back.

"Move out of the way Sawada, I will deal with you later." Her eyes narrowed and to his shock she pushed him back across the floor a good couple of metres. She stood in front of the herbivore with a strong aura and raised both her hands up.

"No, leave him alone." He lifted up his tonfas and fought back a grin as the thrill of battle crashed over him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Takeshi Yamamoto run round the corner, but he ignored him. All his focus was on the frustrating girl in front of him. Now he would see what she was.

_Italy Varia Headquarters_

Xanxus was sure that unless his idiot team shut up in the next five seconds the Ninth would have to pay for another destroyed mansion. He turned his glare to Mammon, the shitty arcobaleno hadn't been able to locate Tsuna and the days were passing quickly. His grip on his gun tightened as he listened to one of the terrified new recruits stutter out that they had been unable to locate Reborn either. If anyone knew where the brat was it was her tutor. The damned baby was like a leech around her at times.

"So I take it you're not having any luck." A growl left his mouth and he looked up to glare at the computer screen where the caller was watching him.

"Like you're doing any better scum." The Shimon boss shrugged his shoulders and sat back on his chair.

"I didn't call to fight, my people found out that Tsuna apparently bought five plane tickets a week ago. One to America, one to England, one to Russia, one to India and one to Australia." Xanxus closed his eyes.

"She's trying to lose us." He smirked. "Very good brat, nut not good enough."

**AN: OK I tried to make this slightly different to the manga story and I hope you guys like it. Next chapter things are going to really kick off and Hibari and Tsuna will definitely fight I promise you and how will Gokudera react to his "rescuer". Sorry this is so late and sorry for the cliffhanger.**

**Sachiel Angelo: I will cover the Xanxus rebelling against the ninth later on promise.**

**Please review! Thank you if you're still reading this.**


	11. Acknowledgement

**Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me**

Chapter 10

Silence fell in the demolished courtyard as the two combatants stared at each other; one of them eager for a more stimulating battle, the other carefully scanning her opponents form. Tsuna glanced down at her hands, now protected by a bright orange sky flame and her X-gloves; she had needed to use it just to block Hibari's attack, which was something she'd only done when fighting Reborn or Xanxus (the other members of her Family had a hard time going all out against her). Yes, Kyoya Hibari was strong...but so was she.

His body twitched slightly and then he was running straight at her. She dimly made out a shocked yell from Yamamoto but her entire being was focused on the oncoming prefect. Later the observers of the fight would swear that just before the two collided Tsuna had worn a brilliant smile on her face, as if she'd just discovered something extremely valuable and important.

They met, and hell broke lose. She met the steel tonfa with her fist and orange sparks burst from it. The second weapon went for her stomach but she twisted out of the way before it could reach her.

Clash.

Bang.

Fists and tonfa's met in a deadly dance that locked the two in a swirling tornado of movement. She jumped back as he brought one of his weapons down in a brutal blow that would have done a lot of damage had it hit. Using the propulsion from her flames she pushed herself away and back-flipped over one of the many craters that littered the area. She knew that if she evoked her full power than the fight would be over a lot quicker, and that if she started to fly it would definitely give her an edge, but...

She didn't want to reveal exactly how good she was, Reborn had made it very clear that she should hold her trump cards until she desperately needed them. He charged at her again and for a split second a line of, quite clearly,purple flames shot down one of the tonfas. What? Her surprise cost her precious seconds and the painful feel of steel meeting skin sent her flying across the ground. Spitting out a mouthful of blood she scolded herself on getting distracted, the pain in her gut would be an excellent reminder for the rest of this fight.

Grey eyes narrowed at her and her intuition told her that he was disappointed, he expected her to be more of a challenge. Her own eyes sunk into a glare, she'd spent most of her life with people looking at her with those eyes; telling her she wasn't good enough, that she would never be good enough. Tsuna was sick and tired of that judgement, her Family believed in her, her father believed in her and there's was the only judgement that she truly valued.

Pushing herself to her feet, the orange flames flickered and snapped as her annoyance grew. It was time to show him just what Reborn had taught her. Tsuna would never say that she enjoyed fighting, to her it was one of the worst things in the world, which was one of the reasons why she wanted to become the tenth boss; to change the darkness that had stained Vongola's past. However, she understood the necessity of it, she understood that there were certain people in this world whom you could only impress by strength.

Hibari was one of them.

The flames on her fist suddenly increased instantly and she pushed herself forward at him. Still not at full speed but a lot quicker than before. It shocked him and she noticed his eyes widen a little before he raised his tonfas in a block. Too late.

This time it was her fist that met skin and he was sent hurtling back into a wall. A cloud of dust was thrown up at the impact and she waited patiently for his next move. This fight wasn't about her beating him, she wanted to at least be acknowledged, if not respected, by him as a fighter. Besides something was telling her that Hibari was important and she really wanted to stop the constant glares he kept on sending at her.

A tonfa came flying at her face and she just barely jumped out of the way. Brown met grey once more and she suppressed a smile at what she saw there. He brought his weapons up once more and she prepared herself for another round. A smirk crossed his face and he lunged at her again, saying one final word.

"Wao."

Another jab at her face but this time she deflected it and was able to counter with a strong blow to his chin, not enough to send him back but enough to unbalance him. Dropping to the floor in an instant she channelled her dying will flame to her leg and swept it beneath him in a swirl of orange. It wasn't meant to knock him down, just surprise him enough for her fist to make contact with his jaw. Unfortunately, he seemed to have learnt from last time and her hit was blocked by steel. The second one was aimed at her torso and once again that tell-tale line of purple burned along the tonfa, but she had learnt as well and it met with only air.

Her right foot came round in a powerful kick, her muscles strengthened with the flame running through them. Most people would be unable to harness the flame using their actual bodies, they needed a weapon to act as a medium because the energy of raw dying will flames was harmful to normal humans, even the arcobaleno had to use objects. There were only a couple of humans who had been born with a strange abnormality in their genes that enabled them to freely use the rawest from of the dying will flame. She was one of them and Fon was another, although he did use the pacifier at times. It wasn't easy for her to do, which was why she usually used her gloves to use the flames, but she could use the raw flames to power up sections of her body to make them stronger. One of the downsides though was that it was very draining on her energy supplies. She could only keep up the constant flow to her leg muscles for another couple of minutes.

Hibari was unprepared with the force behind her leg and it actually sent him back a couple of paces. Not wanting to miss her opening she shot forward again, but she cut the flame supply to her legs. It was something she rarely used outside of practice and one of her trump cards. Luckily neither Hibari nor any of the onlookers would understand the glow on her legs, much less understand its significance.

* * *

Takeshi Yamamoto liked to think that he was a very accepting person. He would always give a person a chance when he first met them and was always ready to learn something new about the world he lived in. That being said, watching his tiny new friend lunge herself at possibly the scariest person in Namimori was causing him to doubt his eyesight. There was no way that this was the same girl who minutes previously had been eating lunch with him.

An image passed through his memory from yesterday. Tsuna yelling at him for trying to end his life and that strange orange glow he'd seen when he was falling. Her eyes had burned with the same intensity as they did now. All he could do was watch as the two met again in a clash of motion. Wow, they were both so strong, it was humbling and a little frightening.

He slowly became aware of the pain in his hand and looked down with a little surprise to see his hand clenched so tight that his fingers were digging into the skin. Releasing his grip he looked down at the new transfer student (Gokudera was it?) still sat on the floor with his jaw nearly touching the ground. If he wasn't so stunned himself he would have laughed at the look on the teens face, the look was so different to the scowl that had been on it this morning when he'd spent all of first lesson glaring at Tsuna.

The frown on Yamamoto's face deepened slightly when he thought back on the incident. When the new guy had knocked Tsuna's desk to the floor he'd been sure that the guy was going to attack her. His senses had been screaming at him to do something but his body had felt incredibly slow. She'd handled it fine on his own. He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, face uncharacteristically sombre. How was he meant to be her friend if he couldn't protect her? She seemed to be doing fine on her own.

Despite what his grades said he wasn't stupid and it wasn't hard to see that Tsuna was not your average student. The way she walked and spoke was precise and measured, even when she was flustered there was a certain amount of control and grace in her actions. Not to mention the truly mind-boggling fighting ability she had. Where on earth had she learnt to fight like that?"

"S-She saved me, a-and I w-was going to..." He glanced back down at the stupefied teen who seemed to finally have regained control of his mouth.

"Why on earth would she defend me?" Although the boy was speaking to himself Yamamoto decided to answer him.

"Because Tsuna's special like that." Green eyes darted up to his face and that scowl from earlier returned.

"What are you talking about idiot?" Ignoring the insult Yamamoto turned back to the fight going on in front of them.

"Tsuna. I really haven't known her that long at all really, in fact I only first met her a couple of days ago." The smile returned to his face. "But, even I can tell there's something special about her. She draws you in and you want to be near her. She saved my life yesterday and I'd only known her for two days and she said some things that really helped me. I'm not sure how exactly she's just...special." Yes, that was the word to describe her. Special. He heard Gokudera push himself up of the ground but the boy was no longer looking at him, he was watching Tsuna as well.

Speaking of which, it looked like the fight was going to end soon. Hibari-sempai looked a little out of breath and messier than Yamamoto had ever seen him, Tsuna looked a little better, but she was still breathing quite heavily. Again, that feeling of helplessness washed over him; she and Hibari-sempai were so much stronger than him it was unreal. As quickly as it come the thought disappeared and another took its place.

He'd have to get stronger then.

His smile became a little brighter at that. The answer was simple really. His eyes sharpened as they took in Tsuna's bedraggled appearance. He'd make sure that next time he would be able to fight beside her and not just watch.

* * *

The ringing of the school bell signalled not only the ending of lunch but also the ending of the battle. Tsuna felt tired and scruffy; she was not looking forward to another two hours of lessons. The teachers here were nowhere near as good as Reborn or some of the other tutors she'd had in Italy. The peals of the bell resounded in the destroyed courtyard and Tsuna finally let her fists down. The tonfas followed soon after.

In an impressive show of impassivity Hibari completely ignored the observers and turned the full weight of his gaze on her. If she hadn't had the upbringing she did it probably would have terrified her but amongst the hostility she could detect some acknowledgement, a recognition that wasn't there before. He wiped some blood of his chin, hers or his she wasn't quite sure which, and inclined his head slightly. Now that the fight was over the annoyance she'd felt was gone so she was able to muster a faint smile.

"That was a good fight Hibari-san." He turned away from her and started to walk back to the building before glancing back.

"Don't be late for class omnivore." She blinked at the name, what was with this guy and the animal kingdom? Shrugging it away she responded with a bright "yes" happy that she had gained someone else's acknowledgement. Someone strong with cloud flames.

She was honestly impressed by that. He had probably never come across dying will flames before yet he was unconsciously using them to strengthen his weapons. She shuddered when she imagined him aware of that power and using it on specially made tonfas; he'd be a force to be reckoned with. Her thoughts inevitably led back to that small box resting in the safe and its contents.

"Hey Tsuna." Oh right, Yamamoto. She spun around to see the baseball player jogging towards her. He looked concerned and she could see Gokudera following though thankfully he looked less angry.

"Are you OK? You and Hibari-sempai looked pretty serious then." She shrugged her shoulders.

"It was something that was going to happen anyway. Maybe now he'll stop glaring at me." She wouldn't say that they were friends, she wasn't sure if anyone could become friends with him, but there was an understanding.

"Maybe. You were amazing Tsuna, I didn't know you could fight like that." She blushed at that but she couldn't help feel a little bit awkward; she hadn't told Yamamoto anything about the whole Vongola, Mafia princess thing and she wasn't sure how he'd react to it.

"Don't be stupid idiot, she's the next boss of the Vongola of course she can fight!" The two friends looked at the silver haired teen who was glaring at Yamamoto. The second he noticed her eyes on him he threw himself on the floor in front of her. A little bemused she waited for him to speak.

"My apologies Juudaime-hime. I came here in order to fight you; when I heard that the boss of the Vongola was going to be a teenage girl I thought that she would lead Vongola to ruin. I was told that if I got rid of you than I could be the next boss, though to be honest I never really wanted to either." She blinked, wondering where he'd heard that lie from only someone with Vongola blood could inherit the title of boss. The old irritation and pain of being doubted flared up again; it wasn't the insult to her that bothered her, it was the insinuation that she hadn't been taught properly by her Family.

"So what changed then?" Her voice gave nothing away and he didn't look up from the ground.

"You stepped in front of that bastard's attack to protect me, and you were so much stronger than I thought you'd be." He looked up and she had to admit she was a little freaked out by the shining eyes that stared up at her like she was a queen. It reminded her of Basil only a lot more intense.

"Since you have saved my life, I now owe you a debt of honour. I swear to become your right-hand man and to always be loyal to you." He jumped up with a fierce look in his eyes and all Tsuna could think was _why do I __attract so many strange people?...and why are they all Italian?_

She was about to politely decline, she didn't want to force him into anything. Then she met his eyes, and paused, because behind the bravado and admiration there was a stark fear that caused her to freeze. She had seen that fear before, she'd seen it in Xanxus's eyes after the cradle incident.

She'd woken up in the medical wing of the Vongola headquarters attached to an IV, Xanxus had been by her side with two guards watching him; he'd had that fear in his eyes, the fear that she would push him away, that she would hate him for what he did to her. Tsuna hadn't been able to stand that look and, even though she had only been young, she knew that only she could make it better. So she'd jumped at him, thrown her arms around him, well as far as arms could go around him, and was overjoyed to see that fear disappear.

Remembering what Bianchi had told her about his past she understood why Hayato Gokudera would feel that fear. She knew what it was like to long for a sense of belonging, and she wasn't going to deny him that. Aside from that he looked like a promising fighter, a little selfishly she liked the fact that she didn't have to worry about impressing him or saying the right thing to make friends. With that in mind she stepped forward and smiled at the bomber.

"I'd be happy to have you in my Family Gokudera-san." Blissfully unaware of the effect her smile was having on the starstruck teenage male. He flushed an interested shade of red and jumped about ten feet away from her, but this time when she looked at him that awful fear had been replaced by overwhelming joy.

"Thank you so much Juudaime-hime. I promise that I will not let you down." She nodded then turned to the left when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Tsuna, what is he talking about? What's the Vongola?" She opened her mouth to answer but Gokudera beat her to it.

"Don't bother Juudaime-hime with your stupid questions idiot! Not that you'd know but Vongola is the strongest Family in the entire Mafia, they have a huge influence and are incredibly strong. Hime here is going to be the next boss and I'm going to be her right-hand man." Tsuna froze, a little scared about how the baseball player would react to the news.

An arm was suddenly placed around her neck and she looked to see Yamamoto's face suddenly very close to hers.

"Hah, so Tsuna's the boss then? I think I'd like to join this Family thing as well." Relief crashed over her.

"Hey you can't just invite yourself in!" She wondered why Gokudera looked so irked at Yamamoto's presence. Must be a guy thing.

"Eh, but didn't you do that Gokudera?"

"Shut the hell up idiot!"

Tsuna stood watching the two having their rather one-sided argument. A strange warm feeling spread through her body as she realised that they were her Family, not her grandfathers. She'd seen the bond between her grandpa and his guardians and had fiercely hoped that she would have such a strong one with her guardians. Watching the two of them she began to think that maybe that dream wasn't so far-fetched as she'd first thought.

_Italy_

If it were anyone else but Reborn they would be terrified by the sight in front of them. The leading members of the Varia, the bosses of the Chiavarone and Simon Family, Lal Mirch and the arcobalenos of Mist, Rain and Storm were all glaring at him. The infant hitman simply took a drink of the espresso in front of him and frowned, Tsuna made better ones.

"Stop ignoring us kora!" He looked at Colonnello and took in the tense way he was holding the gun. "Tell us where Tsuna is, we know you know where she is. Brat tells you everything kora."

"I can't." The two words echoed in the room, and you could probably cook an egg from the sheer intensity of the anger that was being directed at the hitman. He looked out the window up to the sky, if any of the people here knew exactly who was after Tsuna there would be a massacre but he knew that this was one test she had to face on her own.

He couldn't be there to watch over her any more, she would have to fend for herself. No matter how much the worry in his chest was driving him insane he had to believe that his student could succeed. That she could survive without the protection she'd had all her life.

He did. He had ever since he had found her in the Vendicare Prison playing tag with some of the masked guardians, her effect on the monsters of the Mafia was scary, and one he was all too familiar with. Despite the fact that he anted to do nothing more than jump on the next plane to Japan.

His only issue was convincing the combined group of angry, concerned, powerful and fiercely protective people in front of him that she was better off alone.

Great.

**AN: I am so sorry for the lateness of this, I have no excuses except for life just getting incredibly busy, so if you are still reading this I apologize. I hoped I spent enough time on Hibari and Tsuna's fight because a couple of reviews wanted a good fight so I hope I delivered on it. On a separate note I am thinking of doing another story and the poll will be up on my profile so please vote on it!**

**Reviews:**

**Seriyuu: Do not worry Mukuro and Chrome will both appear in this, but it will be after she's met Ryohei, which will be coming up pretty soon.**

**Kanojo wa Rinko: Nana did in fact have a funeral after her death, I will be including snippets of Tsuna's past in Italy throughout this fic and that will definitely feature in it.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and put this on their favourite/alert lists.**


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